Abruzzo | Italy

Available in CA

‍Location

In the Apennine mountains of Abruzzo, just a few hundred meters below the skiing and Alpine hiking, is a region with ancient ties to agriculture. Here two childhood friends, Alonso and Luca Paolo, decided to purchase some land in 2012 and continue that tradition, growing olive trees, heirloom varieties of wheat, and the local grapes Montepulciano and Trebbiano Abbruzese.

‍Farming

Alonso and Luca Paolo immediately set-out to convert the land to organic in 2012, but soon pushed even further into a system of farming that respected the local ecosystem. They plant native cover crops, use green manures made on their property, established colonies of bees, and many other practices that they continue to hone.

‍Cellar

Making only the three classic styles of their region, Trebbiano, Cerasuolo, and Montepulciano, the friends keep the winemaking simple and hands-off. For the Trebbiano and Cerasuolo, the grapes are destemmed and crushed; for the Montepulciano, the grapes are destemmed but allowed to ferment whole. All fermentation occurs naturally. The wines are made in stainless steel and aged for a short period of time in the bottle. No superfluous technical or chemical processes are done to the wines before bottling; they simply are allowed to come to life.