Rare Wines. The energy of Trebbiano between Abruzzo and Tuscany

Mar 16 2023, 12:05 | by Gambero Rosso
In this episode we take you between Tuscany and Abruzzo to discover two white wines. The main grape variety is Trebbiano, declined in two fascinating territorial expressions and produced in a limited number of bottles.

There are 400 kilometers that separate Torre dei Beati from Monteraponi. Starting from the Adriatic, from Francavilla al Mare in Abruzzo, we travel along a good stretch of coastal highway, then enter the Marche region and head inland. There are the Apennines to cross. We pass through Umbria, the green lung of Italy and our thoughts turn to the Trebbiano Spoletino. But this time we stay at a high altitude and reach Radda in Chianti. It is a beautiful piece of central Italy that we travel through, a vast area that shares some of the great native grapes of Italy.

One of these is Trebbiano, but it would be wrong to speak of just one grape variety, given the different clones. Even more wrong to speak of the same wines, with soils, altitudes, climates and, last but not least, various concepts of making wine. The beauty of non-mainstream wine is represented by its facets, by its different expressions. Never stop at the grape variety alone, as it says very little. The two labels that we explore today on Rare Wines are pure territorial expression and equally pure craftsmanship.

There is the sunny part of the coast in one, the cool part of the high hilly vineyards in the other. There is contact on the lees for a year and the skillful use of ceramic in one, maceration for 48 hours and maturation in small wood barrels in the other. We are talking about the Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2021 by Torre dei Beati and the Colli della Toscana Centrali Trebbiano 2021 by Monteraponi. In both wines the production is small, in both the production is the result of awareness, experience and thought.

Colli della Toscana Centrale Trebbiano 2021

Monteraponi
Tuscany
white
Score: 
96
/100
VINEYARD | It is well known that Radda in Chianti is one of the great areas for the production of Sangiovese, without a doubt it is rarer to speak of Trebbiano in these parts in recent times. Yet there is someone who bet on it and the results are incredible. In 2010 Michele Braganti, owner of Monteraponi, decided to focus on this native grape variety that we find throughout central Italy, but which in Tuscany offers unique characteristics. In the past there were always some plants in the "red" vineyards because the white grapes became part of the blending of the reds. Braganti, instead of uprooting them as most of the producers did at the time, realised that a great...
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Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Di-vèrto 2021

Torre dei Beati
Abruzzo
white
Score: 
92
/100
VINEYARD | Half a hectare of vineyard in Francavilla al Mare, on sandy soil, entirely surrounded by woods. The training system is the classic pergola, the plants are about 25 years old, the slope is fierce. The peculiarity of these bunches, explains Fausto, is in the size of the grapes, significantly smaller compared to the average of the variety. When they reach full maturity they take on almost pink hues. The name of the wine, diverto, takes us back to the Latin meaning: to amuse, to turn elsewhere, it is in fact an experiment carried out by a winery that over the years has delighted us with an exquisitely territorial range and very serious consistency over time.PERSONS | Adriana Galasso...
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