When it comes to Abruzzo’s wine scene, thoughts turn immediately to the great names that built the region’s oenological history and fortune, like Valentini’s Trebbiano and the Montepulciano wines of Emidio Pepe and Masciarelli. But today’s Abruzzo is living a second youth, vibrant and dynamic. Beneath the surface, a wave of wineries is redefining the very idea of terroir through a precise style of their own: deep identity, absolute technical clarity, and the ability to generate a genuinely emotional memory. To discover where the heart of Abruzzo’s new winemaking craftsmanship truly beats, here are the wineries worth visiting, and why.
Caprera, Pietranico
Pietranico is a magical place, a land of wind, forests and ancient palmenti carved into the rock. Caprera is a project that perfectly embodies the idea of contemporary craftsmanship. Luca Paolo works with deep respect for nature, paired with real clarity and precision when it comes to taste and territory. His wines, from Trebbiano to Cerasuolo, a particularly compelling Pecorino, and Montepulciano, are far from generic, and never hide behind the flaws that so often let down the natural wine world. There’s a vibrant purity here, a straight-backed tension and an elegance that stays with you. Tasting with them means getting a real feel for a deep, proud, uncompromising Abruzzo.
Montetino, Celano
Here we’re in the heart of the Abruzzese Apennines, within the Sirente-Velino Regional Park. Benedetta and Marco are behind this extraordinary project born from the desire to revive old vineyards abandoned at extreme altitudes, between 700 and 850 metres. In this mountain terroir, marked by sharp swings in temperature, their wines, farmed biodynamically and spontaneously fermented in cement, aren’t chasing concentration but rather an exceptional verticality, freshness and clarity. Each sip is limpid, direct and disarmingly honest. An essential stop for understanding the freshest, most untouched soul of high-altitude Abruzzo, and above all, a genuine alternative to the region’s already-famous names.
Castelsimoni, Cese di Preturo
This winery embodies both the challenge and the allure of mountain viticulture in Abruzzo, pushing vine cultivation to the foot of the Gran Sasso, at altitudes brushing 800 metres, through extreme climate conditions and dramatic day-to-night temperature swings. The result is a range of wines with a unique energy, an electric acidity and a sharp, taut, crystalline mineral profile, favouring verticality and freshness over pure warmth and structure. It’s the perfect demonstration of how Abruzzo can express an almost northern kind of elegance, while preserving extraordinary longevity and a strong sense of place, through grape varieties not typically associated with the region, such as Riesling, aromatic Traminer and Pinot Noir, the latter a truly heartfelt expression. A genuine laboratory of high-altitude viticulture, just a stone’s throw from L’Aquila.
Colle Florido, Pianella
Born from the vision and sensibility of Andrea Ugolotti, backed by a solid international career as a sommelier in fine dining, and his wife Daniela, Colle Florido offers one of the purest, clearest and most luminous interpretations of the Pescara hills’ terroir. In Pianella, artisanal work translates into a philosophy of listening to the land and minimal cellar intervention, rejecting any dogmatic approach. Andrea and Daniela Ugolotti know how to follow wine’s rhythms without rushing it. Their red, Erba Salata, redefines the approach to Montepulciano: it sheds all heaviness to gain in balsamic notes, fluidity and remarkably elegant aromatic nuances.
about The Author
Born in Puglia, Gianni Sinesi went to secondary school in Roccaraso, Abruzzo, and from there joined Niko Romito’s team in its early days, staying with the project all the way to its third Michelin star as Head Sommelier. Twenty years in total, which shaped his method. For him, wine is a cultural tool, capable of engaging with gastronomic thinking, time and context. Having now stepped away from restaurant life, he devotes himself to training, strategic consulting and curating wine projects. This is how Impressioni was born, a project that reflects his personal way of understanding wine. He doesn’t own vineyards and has no desire to be a winemaker: he makes wine because he feels he knows how to read it, tell its story, and above all, imagine it starting from the land itself. His most prized wine is called Rocce e Fiori, the promise of an Abruzzo that tastes of wild herbs, white flowers and wet stone, like the breeze that rises from the Adriatic Sea up through the valleys and cliffs of the Gran Sasso and Majella, the region’s most imposing mountains.
*image courtesy Andrea Stracchini