Abruzzo is a beautiful and rugged region located on the Adriatic Sea. The west is made up of the Apennine Mountain range and Maiella massif, the east a long coastline of green hills. The coast is warm with plenty of rainfall and sun, becoming more continental and cooler as you move into the mountains.

While there is plenty of good and interesting wine across the region, the wine produced is largely homogenous. Roughly three quarters of all wines are produced by co-ops from pergola vineyards in the warm province of Chieti, the vast majority of it from the Montepulciano grape. Chieti is the fifth largest wine producing province in Italy. Most of this production is inexpensive and easy drinking commercial Montepulciano.

The focus on Montepulciano (and to a lesser extent Trebbiano) continues with the official wine classification system as well. All red DOC and DOCG’s in the region must be majority Montepulciano.

A warm and sunny region protected from storms by the mountains to the west but with more rainfall then in the south. Most wine is produced in the areas around Chieti in the centre of the region where it is warmer and more humid. Surrounding that there is a diverse mix of hills and river valleys with more diurnal temperature variation as you head into the mountains.

As mentioned the native red Montepulciano dominates the region at roughly 65% of all plantings. Sangiovese follows well behind.

For white wines Trebbiano Toscana (Ugni Blanc) and/or Trebbiano Abruzzese are the primary grapes followed by Adriatic whites Passerina and Pecorino alongside the usual internationals.

Interesting natives such as Montonico and Cococciola are rarely seen but hopefully that will change over time.