Azienda Agricola Faraone - Abruzzo, Italy

May: trimming in the colline teramane at Faraone.

THE JEWEL THAT CAN BE ABRUZZO

Been to Abruzzo?
It's neither fish nor fowl, though its Adriatic sea is fish-filled, while its Apennine Mountains swarm in wild life, from fox to bear to wildcat. While Abruzzo's western border is a mere fifty miles from Rome, the region remains largely unknown. Sadly, most visitors know it best from Autogrill rest stops on the Strada A40.

Abruzzans enjoying their land's lack of fame find favor in this- their region is one of peerless rugged beauty. At the same time, it houses an Eden-like multiplicity of foodstuffs. The map below of Abruzzan food specialties (many DOP) gives an idea of the wide berth for dinner table riches. Bring your menu gazetteer to dinner, for whether you dine on the Adriatic beach, in the inland green hills or higher up toward the Gran Sasso, all the best places are steeped in local products and pride. At Pescara, Abruzzo's largest city (12ok), delve into their "Brodetto Pescarese" laced with green pepper and a host of sea creatures; rumor has it that with a chilled Trebbiano D'Abruzzo, you may see heaven. Then there is Teramo's Dantean Tomato soup, "Le Sette Virtu", which took all of seven days to prepare (those were the days), or the region's magical Scrippelle; a mouthwatering crepe-like fritter. In any case do not miss Abruzzo's "Maccheroni all Chitarra", the glorious pasta cut into thin lengths pressured through a device of taut strings similar in look to those of a guitar.

Wide assortment of wonderful foodstuffs.

Considered part of the Italian south, Abruzzo has no "great" city or "great" ancient ruins; its tourist attractions are ethereal- the sea, the mountains- with a full third of its land designated as national parkland and government protected nature preserves.

Abruzzo was an important part of our exploring for fine and affordable wine this spring. Our experiences over the years uncovered wine and wine values as exciting and worthy as any on the planet. Our thinking was why not shoot for even better bottles with even greater value. We have.

Abruzzo's top red grape, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (no relation to the Tuscan appellation of Montepulciano) has long been a candidate for Italy's best red wine value. We have happily sold many over the years and the rapport between satisfaction and price is sky high.

HAVE WE LOST OUR MINDS?

A distinct possibility, that.
Allowing for your generous support in agreeing we had minds to lose... well then, maybe we have. Here is why. As mentioned above, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, as a region, is widely considered "red-value-central.". At the same time, top Montepulciano bottles are hard to find and can be priced at mind-numbing levels - a testament to their world class quality and their scarcity. Also, a few of these wines follow a region's long tradition of aging for many years before being released for sale.

For example, current vintages of the Montepulciano D'Abruzzo of the late Edoardo Valentini sell for around $250 a bottle on release, with older bottles routinely going for $600-$900 each! His white, a Trebbiano D'Abruzzo, comes in at a fiscal svelte $200+ on release. (On several trips to the region - we tried - Valentini had no known email and was known to never pick up his phone. In our pre-travel efforts, never once did Edoardo reply to any of the over thirty faxes we sent him. Years later, a drive-by visit effort failed. To this day we have never visited his winery.)

Then there is the late Gianni Masciarelli, a friend for years, a visionary and undeniably one of the region's most important figures. Over time we built a nice relationship with him and his wines - the top bottlings of which rose to international acclaim, while simultaneously rising to insatiable demand and crazy prices hitting the three digit price level years ago. As a further example of the potential of the not so well known land of Abruzzo, another highly respected producer, Emidio Pepe, releases older bottles of their traditional Montepulciano D'Abruzzo with prices ranging from $75 to $300+ per bottle.

No doubt the demand is there, as is the class, quality and potential of the terroir of Abruzzo. But, are our minds being lost? We think our gem here is well worthy of the company of the big names above, and at a fraction of the price(s).

ABRUZZO WINE NOTES

-Abruzzo is Italy's fifth largest wine production region.
-Two-thirds of the production is bottled by co-ops.
-The Montepulciano grape has nothing to do with Tuscany.
-Abruzzo has four DOC/DOCG wine zones (and eight IGTs):

Controguerra (DOC)
Trebbiano d'Abruzzo (DOC)
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (DOC)
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane (DOCG)

One of our “in-house” tastings at Faroane.

THE UNSUNG BEAUTY OF AGRICOLA FARAONE:
FINDING THE SPECIAL IN THE APPARENT ORDINARY

You've got to be kidding!
That was my original thought when I passed the winery. I was early for my appointment at Azienda Faraone in Giulianova on the the coast; a spread out town, saline air, right smack on the flats, the sea. Though mid-afternoon, the words of the poet "when the evening is spread out against the sky" crossed my mind and I drove past the winery about two miles straight to the greeny-blue-grey Adriatic. It was hot there. I walked around a bit, and it was all sort of, frankly, unattractive. A little later than lunch time, yet a few stragglers (probably yakking and sipping with the owner) having had a bit too much, exited a fish parlor post-lunch, and nearby some kids were trying out wheelies as the sea ebbed on the grey beach: rock strewn, cordoned off, univiting. The local Chamber of Commerce would not go for the look. I left.

My friend Federico Faraone! ...

I know you will read this and won't be thrilled, but now- now that we know each other a little- I suspect you will chuckle. I pulled into the winery parking area, dodgy sign and all right off the main smallish highway- "straighter than a preacher," as Steve Earle sings it: straight for miles to the west toward the Apennines and in reverse nearly into the sea headed east. You can conjure it up easily.

I'm thinking, this is all wrong, but it's time, I'm here, lets get it going. But, we are nowhere near anything that brings to mind the promise of good wine, let alone the fantastic wines I am soon to taste. The house/winery is old, maybe a bit unkempt, but as I consider more closely, it is probaly exactly what it should be; near the sea, lived in. Besides, who wants to pull in to the Taj at Guilianova in Abruzzo? Not I. You?

But, my vine radar still blares--- Valentini, Masciarelli and celebrated others are in the hills, higher up, cooler winds and that kind of environs. On I go...

We make our introductions, suspicions for different reasons I'm guessing, but he must be thinking this crazy guy is here from a wine shop (!) in Oregon, the US of A... I'm here, let's get it going, and we are off in Federico's car to the vines.

I learn quickly, Federico; D'Artagnan-like rocks! He's bright, articulate, concerned; he knows his stuff. It's evident in minutes this may turn out well afterall. We head to the hills, literally, at least his part of the hills. Federico, an oenologist, explains: "Our vines are lucky, they get the coolness of the nearby mountains but also have the sea breezes, and we have a beautiful exposure to the sun." We get out into the higher hills near Teramo; the Colline Teramane (hills of Teramo), Abruzzo's only DOCG terroir. At his vineyard near Mosciano Sant’Angelo, it's easy to see why we've made it now to the top terroir as the land is suddenly criss-crossed by hills, soil types and exposures. The heat from the sea is largely gone. I'm thinking, well we are now on to something. Forget the sea, but not its influence on these vines.

Along with his father Giovanni, Federico is behind the winemaking. As he explained, while the family grew grapes as far back as 1916 beginning with grandpa Alfonso, his father Giovanni turned to making wine commercially forty-five years ago in 1970. The winery today, in addition to recently adding some small and high quality new vineyards to its holdings, farms seven hectares producing about 4500 cases- which, small by any standard, by Abruzzo standards easily qualifies as "boutique".

While this article features one amazing wine- the DOCG Montepulciano D'Abruzzo- when our ship comes in in late November we also will be offering some great bottles of their Pecorino, Cerasuolo (yuuuum) and a lovely rosso.

FINDING SOMETHING(S) SPECIAL
We're back at the ranch and I'm thinking at times at least,
we think we know what we are doing; driving up and down autostradas in unknown (to us) places, or around bends that are a better fit for a horse than our tiny Fiat. We'd like to think too, that tasting about 4000 wines a year helps our ability to discern the so-so from the oh-no to truly special.

Sitting at the table you see above, Federico and Giovanni, more curious than ever about this Oregon fellow (I feel), begin to roll out the wines. As we have noted before, often times the place itself, the vines, the winery, the feel of the place- can clue you in to what to expect, and by now my excitement had done the full 180. And we begin. Bingo! The first wine is a knockout- their Trebbiano D'Abruzzo- food for another message. (You can see the full tasting line-up above, but we will concentrate on a jewel of the Abruzzan crown, courtesy of Giovanni and Federico, and it is a monument to quality and class.)

(E)

Click on each wine for more detail.

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