Region: Abruzzo, Italy

Varietal: 100% Pecorino

Tasting notes: A small, delicately pale grape, Pecorino is happy from higher mountain altitudes all the way down to hillside slopes to the coast, and thrives in Italy’s Abruzzo region. From Terre Di Chieti, Abruzzo wine region, Umani Ronchi Vellodoro 2020 Pecorino is a fresh and zesty white wine with lemon-lime zest, dried fine herbs, pepper spice flavours and mouth-watering acidity. Chill and enjoy with grilled calamari and fish tacos.

Producer: The Umani Ronchi story is one of ancient vines, land, and people. It began more than half a century ago at Cuprmontana, in the ehart of Verdicchio Classico country, and has spread further. Today, Umani Ronchi is owned by the Bianchi-Bernetti family, who since 1959 have been making superb quality craft wines, coaxing the best out of the Verdicchio and Montepulciano grapes that find their finest expression in the Marche and Abruzzo regions. For over ten years, Umani Ronchi has been a member of the Istituto del Vino di Qualità - Grandi Marchi, which unites over nineteen of Italy’s greatest wine brands. Umani Ronchi continues to be family-run with Michele Bernetti at the helm, and his father, Massimo, acting as chair.

Vineyard and Winemaking: One likely origin of the name of the Pecorino varietal comes from something called the “transumanza,” or the route Abruzzo shepherds would take their sheep every September into the 1950s, going from the mountains of Abruzzo south to Puglia. Since Pecorino grapes ripen early, they would have been available for traveling sheep to munch on during the transumanza. And since “pecora” means “sheep,” the grape could be named after the hungry creatures that made a snack of them. The Pecorino grapes for this wine come from Omani Ronchi’s ‘Roseto degli Abruzzi’ estate that overlooks the Grand Sasso mountain. Soil is here mainly clay—sandy, deep and rather fresh. The wine rests in stainless steel tanks for about 4 months, in contact with its own yeasts