Trebbiano has a curious reputation in Italy; from its mixed reception as part of the historical Chianti Classico blend, and its ubiquitous nature – permitted in over 80 of Italy’s DOCs, to being an essential component in Vin Santo, and the leading white of the Abruzzo region.

The white Trebbiano (which is actually a family of related – and in some cases unrelated – grapes rather than a single variety) has historically been more recognised for its propensity for high production than for its quality.

In recent years, however, the image of Trebbiano has begun to improve and there is a growing movement of winemakers in Italy looking to bottle Trebbiano, in all its various guises, as a high quality, expressive white rather than the bulk production products of yesteryear.

In Tuscany, several innovative wineries are now crafting complex dry whites from this variety. In Abruzzo, more specialised clonal selection has led to wines of greater structure and cellar potential.

And in Umbria, Trebbiano has become an important part of wine production in Montefalco.

Tuscany

For Michele Briganti of Monteraponi, located in Radda in Chianti, necessity was the mother of invention. He had more than enough estate-grown Trebbiano for his Vin Santo, and so decided to bottle a dry version with some of the surplus, starting in 2010.

Two years later, he discovered the best solution, in which he partially destemmed the grapes, used skin contact for a few days in concrete, and then moved everything along with the lees to very old barriques, making bâttonage three times per week, followed by a light filtering and another six months of bottle refinement.

‘Trebbiano is a difficult grape,’ Briganti explains, ‘generous in quantity, rustic, with high acidity. During the years, I learned [how] to treat it.’

He currently sources Trebbiano from three of his vineyards – two of which are more than 50 years old – and matures the wine in Burgundian barriques.

At Barone Ricasoli in Gaiole in Chianti, Francesco Ricasoli had been testing different vinification methods for Trebbiano for several years.

Finally deciding on a mix of amphora, stainless steel and barrique, ‘Sanbarnaba’ debuted with the 2020 vintage. ‘The decision was made after several experiments we did,’ he explains. ‘Amphora with skin contact and maceration give structure, the oak lends harmonious roundness, and steel the freshness.’

Arguably the most complex version of Trebbiano in Tuscany is Bòggina B from Petrolo, located in Bucine, in the Arezzo province, about 30 miles southeast of Florence.

Proprietor and winemaker Luca Sanjust remarks that this wine is a ‘very Burgundian style, with a lot of work on the lees’. He ages the wine in French oak tonneaux and explains that it is a ‘very unique wine, connected with the soils and vegetation we have around our vineyards’.

For Sanjust, the wine is ‘very beautiful on the palate, [it] gives you a lot of pleasure, is extremely sapid with beautiful acidity and a very long finish.’

Abruzzo

For decades, Trebbiano has been an important part of viticulture in Abruzzo, most famously as Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, typically vinified in steel and crafted as a pleasant, if uninspiring wine.

But there have been exceptions, most notably from Valentini and Emidio Pepe – two producers whose bottlings offer excellent cellar potential and greater varietal purity.

Thankfully, artisan producers in Abruzzo are changing the wine’s identity, largely in part to their use of the Trebbiano Abruzzese clone, as opposed to the more widely planted Trebbiano Toscano strain.

‘Trebbiano Toscano is a common grape variety, while Trebbiano Abruzzese is a specific biotype of the same grape,’ explains Chiara Ciavolich of the eponymous estate in Loreto Aprutino.

‘Trebbiano Abruzzese has a larger berry with a thin skin, a less compact and lighter cluster, and consequently lower yields. It tends to produce more expressive wines on the nose.’

For her limited production Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, ‘Fosso Cancelli’, Ciavolich uses a combination of terracotta amphora, small stainless steel tank and Slavonian oak for fermentation; the resulting wine has expressive aromatics of pineapple and apple peel, and a structure that promises greater complexities over eight to 10 years.

At Fattoria Nicodemi, Elena Nicodemi produces three separate versions of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, with the ‘Cocciopesto’ label being the most distinctive.

Cocciopesto is a type of amphora made by a small company in Tuscany; the mixture of ingredients combines brick and stone fragments, hydraulic lime and water; in ancient times, it was used as a plaster for terraces and thermal pools.

Nicodemi uses cocciopesto amphorae as they allow micro-oxygenation similar to that of a barrique, but without interfering with the wine’s aromatic profile.

‘Unlike our other Trebbianos, the Cocciopesto Trebbiano undergoes skin maceration, carefully calibrated to avoid making the wine excessively austere or comparable to an orange wine. The goal is to extract only the most varietal components from the skins.’

Umbria

Finally, Trebbiano Spoletino has become an important player in the Montefalco area in Umbria, where Sagrantino and Sangiovese dominate.

A key producer is Filippo Antonelli, who releases multiple versions of Trebbiano, including a metodo classico and two dry versions: ‘Trebium’ is fermented in large barrels, and ‘Vigna Tonda’ is an amphora-aged version from older estate vines.

The latter offers distinct spiciness on the nose and excellent palate weight, and is light years away from the typical steel-aged examples of other whites from this territory.

Italy’s Trebbiano: Four to try

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Susan Hulme MW, Vincenzo Arnese and Sara Bachiorri tasted 46 wines with 16 Highly recommended and 26 recommended.

Lugana white wines: Panel tasting scores

46 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 0

Highly recommended 16

Recommended 26

Commended 4

Fair 0

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their Lugana DOC dry white wines, either from the 2022 vintage or, if a Riserva, from the most recent vintage

Lugana is a white wine from the southern shores of Lake Garda. Cradled in a beautiful spot in the hills around the town of Sirmione, between the towns of Peschiera del Garda and Desenzano, Lugana DOC is one of the few Italian wine denominations that crosses two regions: Lombardy and Veneto.

The DOC was set up in 1967 and covers 2,600 hectares. It permits five different designations – annata (the regular wine of the vintage), Superiore, Riserva, late harvest and spumante (sparkling) – although most wines produced are dry whites.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Lugana white wines panel tasting

Wines must be made from 90% Trebbiano di Soave or Trebbiano di Lugana (known locally as Turbiana). Recent DNA analysis has found that Turbiana is almost identical to Verdicchio, the white variety found in the Marche, but there are enough small differences to suggest it is a biotype of this variety rather than a clone.

Dry Lugana wines can be crisp and refreshing, with a range of delicate aromas and flavours ranging from citrus and green apple to peach. The acidity is fresh but gentle, and there is often a pleasant bitter almond taste on the finish. Some examples also feature a savoury and salty minerality.

This panel tasting of Lugana dry whites presented us with many pleasant and enjoyable wines, without any extreme highs or lows. We tasted 46 wines, 32 of which were the entry-level annata wines, along with 12 Riserva and two Superiore. Seven of the Riserva wines had seen some kind of oak, but the other five were made only in stainless steel.

See all the wines from the Lugana white wines panel tasting

The category showed well, with half of the Riserva wines earning a Highly recommended score (‘silver’ medal equivalent) and five Recommended (‘high bronze’). And the panel was very consistent in its judgements. Based on the average of all three judges’ scores, 16 wines were scored at 90 points or more, 16 scored 88-89pts and 14 scored 85-87pts.

Vincenzo Arnese commented: ‘The first impression is that, overall, the appellation produces good-quality wines at all levels, yet it is difficult for individual wines to stand out. The main reason is [because of] what Trebbiano di Lugana is capable of achieving as a grape itself.’

Sara Bachiorri agreed that ‘overall quality was very good’, explaining: ‘We encountered a range of flavour profiles from the crisp and salty wines to the more tropical ones, with various degrees of oak influence. Most wines also had a lovely texture; they were more persistent than expected. It is easy to imagine enjoying a glass or two on the lake shores in spring and summer!’

These wines are not overly complex, but they are charming, fruity and easy to drink, and they pair well with a wide range of dishes. My personal preference is for the unoaked, citrus-focused, leesy, mineral examples, which showcase a deliciously taut and lively character: it’s easy to see why these wines are becoming so popular.

Lugana white wines panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Susan Hulme MW is a wine writer, editor, educator and presenter specialising in Italy. She runs her own wine training and consultancy company Vintuition and travels regularly to Italy’s wine regions. Now focusing more on her writing, she is Italian editor for The Wine Independent.

Vincenzo Arnese is director of wine at Raffles London at the OWO. Born in Naples, he worked at top hotels in Italy, Switzerland and Australia, and later Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. A DWWA judge, in 2022 he won the coveted title of Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year

Sara Bachiorri is in the buying team at merchant WoodWinters. A DWWA judge, she was formerly head sommelier at The Glasshouse in Kew then Chez Bruce in London, followed by a stint at Italian specialist merchant FortyFive10°.

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Sweeping from above the Atlantic ocean-kissed shores of La Rochelle, down the Gironde estuary towards the fêted vineyards of Bordeaux – and reaching far inland through forest, rivers and wheat fields – the Cognac region at first seems mind-bogglingly vast. But while this wide expanse may be one of France’s largest grape-planted areas, the good news for travellers is that there’s a clear first-timer’s itinerary to discovering its liquid treasures. Simply make for the heart of the action in the premium central sub-regions of Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, and the twin spirit-soaked communes of Cognac and Jarnac, for a long weekend of tastings, cellar tours and laid-back exploring.

Covering some 13,000ha in the centre of the Cognac region – and bordering Cognac town – Grande Champagne has highly chalky soils relative to other sub-regions and picturesque vistas of low vine-lined hills. With its white stone buildings along the squiggling river Charente, Cognac town makes a fine base for your explorations, both for its proximity to major houses and its smattering of lovely sights, from half-timbered homes to old cloisters. Conversely, sleepier Jarnac, a 10-minute train ride or 20-minute drive away on the borders of Petite Champagne, has sun-flecked spaces dominated by the grand frontage of Courvoisier and unassuming corners housing the likes of Hine and Louis Royer. Beyond these two communes, countless other small villages radiate outwards with cellars and tasting rooms both big and small, ripe for discovery if you have the time.

How to get there

The nearest well-served airport and major city is Bordeaux-Mérignac (130km south), but flights also go into La Rochelle (110km northwest, on the coast) and Limoges (140km due east inland). Or take a train to Cognac or Jarnac station from Paris in three to four hours.

Tasting experiences

Given the punchier nature of a Cognac tasting in comparison to wine, you’ll likely only want two or three stops a day – which means being selective among the 280 or so regional producers. Wherever your stylistic preferences lie, it’s almost mandatory to begin with the house that’s synonymous with the Cognac category: Hennessy (see ‘My perfect day’, below). Responsible for about 40% of all regional production, the LVMH-owned brand’s rambling facilities are set over a series of vast buildings in the heart of Cognac. Tours come in every shape and size: join a shuttle boat across the river Charente to discover Hennessy through a digital art installation, sampling the characteristically spicy VSOP on a two-hour group tour (€29 per person, times vary so check and book ahead); or cycle through the vineyards ahead of a superb picnic lunch from the kitchens of chef Thierry Verrat, owner of one-star Michelin restaurant La Ribaudière (€130 per person, €65 picnic supplement).

A 15-minute walk away from Hennessy, and somewhat more modest in scale, family-owned Bache Gabrielsen has its headquarters in a small townhouse on tranquil Rue Louis Dominique. In the historic offices where respected Master Blender Jean-Philippe Bergier works his magic, old wooden cupboards line walls and samples from local bouilleurs de cru (‘grower-distillers’) clutter desks awaiting consideration for future assemblages (‘blends’). Join a tour of the onsite cellar, spotting precious demijohns of old vintages and sampling through the smooth and complex range (free of charge). If you’ve the cash, you can even buy your own barrel for bottling when the time is right.

Over in nearby Jarnac, your essential stop is the highly respected Delamain, blending elegant, long-aged Cognacs from an elite selection of farmer-growers around the region with spirit distilled from its own vineyards. The time-warp ageing rooms, filled with barrels and demijohns, are among the most atmospheric to be found in all of Cognac, and private cellar dining experiences with tastings of signature Pale & Dry XO, as well as highly limited Pléiade collection bottlings, let you soak it up to the fullest.

My perfect day in Cognac country

Morning

After a quick spin around the morning produce market in Cognac town, kick off your introduction to the long-aged Cognacs at Hennessy, by far the region’s largest producer. Its 90-minute Initiation visit (€25 per person) is ideal for beginners who want to learn more about the spirit’s production process, but connoisseurs will be more enthralled by the four-hour Grape to Glass masterclass (€500). Afterwards, depending on time, visit Bache Gabrielsen for a brief tour and tasting or try the Château de Cognac, birthplace of François I and now a tasting room for Cognac Baron Otard.

Lunch

Nibble on market-fresh fare at Poulpette (see ‘address book’, below), a few minutes’ walk away across the Charente river. Concise seasonal menus of elevated bistro dishes are paired with wines from small minimal-intervention winemakers such as Languedoc’s Domaine Peyrus and Château Thivin in Beaujolais.

Afternoon

Hop on the train for the 10-minute ride to neighbouring Jarnac – whizzing past rows of grape vines – to get a view of the region’s other must-see centre. You should have booked ahead if you want to explore the atmospheric ageing rooms of Delamain; access is limited. But you will also find a newly renovated tour area in the grand Courvoisier building, set opulently on the riverside. Book the 1.5-hour tour and tasting, then enjoy a pick-me-up coffee in a quiet square in the sun and soak up the laid-back Gallic atmosphere.

Evening 

Take the train back to Cognac for dinner at restaurant Les Foudres, set among 100-year-old barrels in the centre of town at Hôtel Chais Monnet. Afterwards, the hotel’s 1838 Jazz Bar awaits with its unrivalled selection of Cognacs – there are more than 220 pours to choose from. Ask the knowledgeable bartenders to put together a tasting flight for you to sip while you enjoy some live music.

And beyond

Now, venture into the countryside. Set just outside scenic castle town Bouteville among spectacular, meandering country roads, Jean-Luc Pasquet is a small husband and wife set-up operating as both bouilleur de cru and blender. Working organically across about 15ha, mostly of Folle Blanche and Ugni Blanc, they encourage biodiversity on site and distil in their historic farmyard building. Settle into the tasting room sofa with American-born Amy Pasquet and savour the appley four-year-old L’Organic or spicy, leathery 10-year-old.

An innovator of another breed in the commune of Ars, Maison Ferrand was founded in its current form by Burgundian Alexandre Gabriel – the brain behind the refined and dynamic Plantation Rum range – in 1989. The focus is not only on quality but on crafting unique, consumer-friendly bottlings such as 10 Générations, aged partly in ex-Sauternes casks, and Double Cask Réserve, rested in barrels that formerly held Banyuls. There is not officially a visitor centre, but some visitors are welcomed by appointment; enquire via the website.

For one more boutique stop-off, consider Bourgoin Cognac, just outside Angoulême, a Charente city you may recognise for its starring role in Wes Anderson’s film The French Dispatch. The ‘micro barrel’ XO range produced from family vineyards is decadent, nutty and accomplished – and a first-rate bottled verjus (unripe grape juice) for cooking or cocktail making is also produced. Join a 90-minute ‘safari’ in the vines (€75 per person) for the most comprehensive experience.

Ultimately, wherever you choose to stop off in Cognac, you’ll discover a range of delicious – and often excellent-value – aged eaux-de-vie that show exactly why the spirit is held in such high esteem. And unlike many wine regions, Cognac can be an enticing prospect in winter – not only for the pleasure of sipping a fragrant VSOP by a roaring hotel fire, but because distillation takes place between October and March (Jean-Luc Pasquet, for example, is even known to invite some visitors to take part in the process if booked as a special package: contact directly to enquire).

Saying that, if you want sunshine, spring is the loveliest time. The leaves are green on the vines, the sun bathes walks along the Charente river and the mood is jovial. Even if you’ve never been much of a Cognac drinker, a few days in this fascinating region will quickly have you entranced.

Your Cognac address book

Accommodation

Domaine des Etangs

East of Cognac town, this luxurious, turreted château hotel is nestled on rambling farmland with lakes, cattle and large-scale sculpture. Decor is contemporary and art=forward, and an honesty bar stocks sublime, vanilla-noted Bourgoin Cognac.

Hȏtel Chais Monnet & Spa

Locations don’t get more prime: right in the heart of Cognac town centre. Set within former cellars reworked into a sculptural, contemporary vision of glass and steel, also ticking boxes for its Michelin-starred restaurant (see ‘Les Foudres’, below), elegant spa and list of local experiences, ranging from private tours to bike rides through vineyards.

Le Relais de Saint-Preuil

For a cosy traditional manor house atmosphere, coddled in vines in between Cognac and Angoulême. A suntrap pool awaits for post-tasting relaxation in summer, while roaring open fires warm in cooler months.

Restaurants

Le Verre y Table

A few steps from Jarnac rail station, this modernist, conceptual dining space dishes up the likes of Charron mussels with pineau, or trout with squid ink and lemongrass. A €29 set lunch menu is great value, and any time of day the extensive Cognac menu is welcome.

Les Foudres

Located in a former ageing warehouse, this one-star Michelin restaurant has distinct local flair. Menus include the likes of caviar butter with seaweed brioche, asparagus with coffee and Martell Cognac creme, or stone bass with cream bottarga and potatoes.

Poulpette

With a concise menu and contemporary platings, this Cognac town restaurant, located a short walk from the Charente river, is a favourite with locals thanks to its regularly changing market menu. Wash it all down with a wine list featuring cult producers.

Things to do

Abbaye de Bassac

With more than a thousand years of history, this rambling stone abbey outside Jarnac gives insight into Benedictine lifestyle and French architectural styles from Romanesque to Baroque. Its wealth of delightful outside spaces are perfect for wandering around in the spring and summer months.

Le Baume de Bouteville

This artisan vinegar producer uses locally grown grapes in its production and ages its balsamic-style concoctions in ex-Cognac barrels. Join a tour and tasting (with fresh oysters, if desired) at its boutique headquarters under the shadow of Bouteville’s château.

River cruises

Tour the snaking river Charente aboard electro-solar boat Bernard Palissy III, setting off west of Cognac town and taking in cobbled settlements, farmers’ fields and sun-sparkled water

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‘I feel more similar to Trebbiano Toscano than to Sangiovese because it is an underdog, like me,’ said Monteraponi owner, Michele Braganti during the first vertical tasting of his Trebbiano Toscano.

‘I am the youngest of three siblings, and when I continued to fail exams at law school, my parents let me take over Monteraponi instead of entering the successful family business. It was a sort of punishment,’ Braganti recalled.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for a 10-vintage vertical of Monteraponi Trebbiano Toscano

Monteraponi is an acclaimed winery but the road to get here was not easy.

In 1974, Braganti’s father purchased Monteraponi, a medieval hamlet dating back to the 10th century in Radda in Chianti – now welcoming many visitors every year, but then a low-key rural spot off the beaten track – surrounded by 200 hectares of land. For many years, the family rented out the vineyards surrounding the picturesque village and let local farmers take care of the wine production.

Since Michele and his wife Alessandra took over, they have – with the insight of consultant oenologist Maurizio Castelli – turned the situation at Monteraponi around. Today, the estate makes award-winning wines including the Il Campitello Chianti Classico Riserva and the Baron’Ugo Toscana IGT – both made with Sangiovese from the estate’s 12 hectares of organic vineyards.

Braganti’s first vintage at the estate was 2003, and over the next few years he began to believe in the project. ‘I wanted to show that I could create something important, and since I adore Burgundy, I saw similar characteristics between Sangiovese and Pinot Noir, and Trebbiano and Aligoté.’ He noted that the latter pair are very often misunderstood and taken for granted in their respective regions.

Trebbiano: Making a comeback?

Few grape varieties have a worse reputation than Trebbiano Toscano. One of the most commonly planted in Italy, it represents 36,000 hectares of vineyard (Source: Agea data, 2015). In France, the grape is known as Ugni Blanc, and due to its neutral character it is used to produce Cognac and Armagnac.

There are around 15 different varieties under the Trebbiano umbrella grown in Italy but most of them, rather confusingly, are not related to one another.

Trebbiano Toscano was for a long time allowed in the blend for Chianti and Chianti Classico, but in 2005 white grapes were completely banned from the recipe of the latter (10% of white varieties is still allowed in Chianti).

‘In 2005, we got the advice from the Chianti Classico consortium to rip out the Trebbiano vines – but I never listen to stupid advice,’ Braganti said, well-known for not being afraid to speak his own mind.

Following the ban, some of the bigger wineries in the region started to make a wine called Galestro, an easy-drinking white wine comprising Trebbiano and a little Chardonnay. In this way, they absorbed the abundance of Trebbiano Toscano, providing a lifeline to small growers while they converted their vineyards to other varieties. However, this practice did nothing to help Trebbiano Toscano’s reputation.

Braganti, as always, went his own way. He started to invest and experiment with his Trebbiano Toscano from 40-year-old vines growing at an altitude of 420 to 570 metres. ‘It has a skin rich in polyphenols and it maintains high acidity but needs careful winemaking and the right timing for harvest,’ he said.

A rich, complex and full-bodied white wine, it’s made in a Burgundian style and is completely different from what you expect from the so-often neutral Trebbiano Toscano grape.

The grape variety is today gaining new interest among a number of producers in Tuscany, especially in Chianti Classico. It’s a region that currently lacks a significant white wine, and maybe Trebbiano Toscano could be the answer. Surely, Monteraponi´s Burgundian style of Trebbiano is a benchmark for the comeback of this so long underestimated grape variety.

Monteraponi’s Trebbiano

‘In 2010, I made my first Trebbiano Toscano and started to vinify it like a regular white. I destemmed everything. Fermentation took place in steel vats and so on, but the result was so bad I threw everything away,’ Braganti explained.

The following year, he decided to pick the Trebbiano Toscano later than the red varieties. He also started experimenting with whole-bunch fermentation and changed from steel to concrete tanks.

‘In 2012, we used indigenous yeast for the first time and we have never gone back – but it is from the 2014 vintage that I understood the formula that I have tried to fine-tune since then.’

Today, Braganti uses 30% whole-bunch fruit during fermentation, with no temperature control. ‘After 48 hours of skin contact we put the juice into used barriques, where it completes the alcoholic fermentation.’ He often blocks the malolactic fermentation to keep freshness in the wine and, at the end of October, 50% of the wine is transferred for six months into new barriques from Burgundy and Austria, while the rest stay in the used wood.

Twice-weekly bâtonnage helps to give the wine body, structure and aromas, and following a light clarification, the wine returns to concrete tanks for natural decantation. It is bottled without filtration during a waning moon, using gravity.

See tasting notes and scores for a 10-vintage vertical of Monteraponi Trebbiano Toscano

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Italy is known in the wine world for its multitudinous grape varieties, stunning scenery and outstanding food. While many wine lovers head straight for the cypress-covered hills of Tuscany, or the foggy heights of Piedmont in the northwest, there are three regions that – in my opinion – are Italy’s best-kept secrets, adjoining north-south down the country’s central Adriatic coast: Marche, Abruzzo and Molise.

Here, where the sea meets the mountains, some of Italy’s finest grapes – white Pecorino and Trebbiano, or red Montepulciano and Tintilia – give their best expression.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 Marche, Abruzzo and Molise wines worth seeking out

Marche

Sandwiched between the perhaps better-known regions of Emilia Romagna in the north and Abruzzo in the south, Marche has approximately 17,000ha under vine, according to the Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini, and more than 12,000 growers. Production here is largely white, with Trebbiano widely planted all over the territory, but Marche is also home to one of the most famous grapes in Italy: Verdicchio.

The region plays host to the vineyards of two main types of Verdicchio: Castelli di Jesi DOC and di Matelica DOC. Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is the better-known and more prestigious appellation and, due to the close proximity of the sea, it can offer a range of styles, from light and fresh to rich, full and complex, largely depending on how and if the wines are aged, and on the level of lees contact during production. Verdicchio di Matelica, being more inland, tends to have a higher-toned and fresher character and can offer great ageing potential.

Verdicchio is a very versatile grape, and it can be found not only in its still form but also in sparkling (both Charmat and traditional method), and even sweet passito wines. The dry wine is best enjoyed with seafood and, thanks to its crisp character, it makes a great aperitif; the more complex and aged wines can be easily matched with chicken and veal, or alternatively monkfish or sea bream.

If you’re looking for great Pecorino and Passerina, the wines from Offida have structure, richness and length. Promoted to DOCG status in 2011, Offida is a small area, just 463ha in 2019, in the far south of the Marche by the border with Abruzzo, reaching inland almost as far as Ascoli Piceno town. Likely the more familiar of the two, Pecorino is incredibly versatile, allegedly named after the local sheep (‘pecora’) and their fondness for the grapes grown locally. The vines prefer cooler areas where the grapes can benefit from breezes, allowing a long ripening season. Pecorino wines can be simple and refreshing if fermented in stainless steel, or rich and complex if aged in oak, offering a wide range of aromas and textures.

Even though the Marche region is famous for the production of white wines, there are also a few red appellations producing notable wines.

Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, produced just up the coast from the city of Ancona, is a very particular and interesting wine; the Lacrima grape has intense, almost perfumed notes of violets, strawberries and lavender, with firm tannins. It can be produced in a passito style as well.

The name Lacrima, literally ‘teardrop’, could relate to the shape of the grape, or the fact that the skins of the ripened grapes can split, causing juice to seep out. Montepulciano in Marche produces deep, juicy reds, sometimes blended with Sangiovese and sometimes international varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The results are medium- to full-bodied wines that are packed with rustic tannins, layers of red forest fruits and plenty of earthy undertones.

Marche producers are increasingly becoming completely organic, such as third-generation family-run Tenuta De Angelis in the province of Ascoli, who believe that Passerina and Pecorino have a great future, especially when produced in a fresher, lighter style. Alighiero De Angelis produces a unique sparkling Passerina, zingy and citrussy, and a Pecorino aged in oak for 12 months, capturing the great versatility of the grape.

Another key player in the Marche has to be Umani Ronchi, the reference on Verdicchio and Rosso Cònero – DOC reds produced from a minimum 85% Montepulciano. With more than 100ha in the Verdicchio area, Umani Ronchi has been making high-quality wines for more than 40 years. Now run by Michele Bernetti, the estate’s best wine is its Rosso Cònero Campo San Giorgio, a stunning example of pure Montepulciano, aged for two years in small and large oak casks.

Abruzzo

Lying between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic, Abruzzo is the home of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC red wines, familiar to many, as well as several white varieties including Pecorino, Passerina and Cococciola. The region is blessed with a favourable climate; the vines grow in a sort of amphitheatre, protected by the high mountains and warmed by the sea breezes. In the last few years, Abruzzo has seen a huge increase in small and independent producers going back to their roots, rediscovering traditional grapes and terroirs.

Montepulciano is the most important variety in Abruzzo, grown on some 17,000ha in 2019 and representing more than half of the region’s total plantings (source: Consorzio Vini d’Abruzzo). Being a generous and vigorous variety, Montepulciano has always been seen as a table wine grape, but producers such as Emidio Pepe, Masciarelli and Valentini have produced world-class wines showing that, if planted in the right areas, this is a variety worthy of attention. It can be grown all over the region, but it thrives in the highest vineyards at 300m-400m altitude.

Another wine unique to Abruzzo is Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, a rosé whose distinctive intensity and depth is given by the richness and intensity of the Montepulciano grape. Valentini’s Cerasuolo has become one of the most important rosés in Italy.

Trebbiano is the queen of the white grapes in Abruzzo, produced all over the provinces of Chieti, L’Aquila, Pescara and Teramo. Known for its racy, crisp, zesty character, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo can be vinified in stainless steel or aged in oak, giving layers of texture and aroma. One of the most planted varieties in Italy, it is often seen as an everyday wine, high in acidity and with little or no personality, but the Abruzzo wines are a different matter – often with huge ageing potential due to the high acidity.

Most of the Trebbiano grown in Abruzzo is actually Trebbiano Toscano. Second-generation winemaker Cristiana Tiberio says that at her family winery they have replanted 5ha of Trebbiano Abruzzese, the native Trebbiano, through a massale selection [taking cuttings from top-quality, established old vines on an existing plot] to preserve the genetic structure of their vine stock.

The variety is prone to rot and burns easily in the summer sun, and this explains why the ‘pergola Abruzzese’ training is the best way to grow this native variety, with the vines trained across an overhead trellis system to provide their own shade. At the Tiberio estate, the Trebbiano is produced without any pressing, using simply the free-run juice of the grapes from 90-year-oldvines. The delicate Trebbiano Abruzzese is then fermented with natural yeast and fermented in stainless steel. With age, the wine gains almost waxy and honeyed notes.

When talking about Trebbiano, you cannot forget Emidio Pepe’s creations. Starting out in the 1960s, at the northern edge of Abruzzo, Pepe established a reputation as a pioneer for extensively ageing his wines in his cellars. He created a unique style that nobody even comes close to replicating; released slowly, and only when ready, the wines have stunning complexity, richness and depth. They are aged in concrete, and it’s here that the Trebbiano gives its greatest performance – released late, the wines are best enjoyed after 15-20 years.

Molise

Tucked in between Abruzzo to the north and Puglia to the south, Molise is the second smallest region in Italy, after only Val d’Aosta in the far northwest. Molise is not the typical Italian tourist spot, even though it is rich in history, with breathtaking mountains and hills and more than 200 castles. The region is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets – it was never promoted as much as other wine regions such as Tuscany or Campania.

When it comes to wine, the best expression is from the Tintilia grape, an indigenous variety with only about 70ha to its name in its Tintilia del Molise DOC stronghold, according to the local consorzio, and small amounts grown elsewhere in the wider region. Tintilia yields are very low.

To qualify as DOC, vines must be grown above 200m, with cool night temperatures providing the freshness required to make balanced wines. The sandy soils and sea influence of the Campomarino area north of the Gargano promontory (the ‘spur’ of Italy’s boot) provide the perfect combination of conditions for Tintilia (as well as Montepulciano).

Tintilia is, for producer Claudio Cipressi, not only a passion but also a true expression of a native grape from Molise. Situated in San Felice del Molise at nearly 600m, Cipressi has some 12ha of Tintilia. He produces several versions, usually aged in oak, but he also has a rosé, Collequinto, and a sparkling cuvée – Tintilia can produce metodo classico sparkling wines, since the grape has high natural acidity and plenty of freshness.

The most famous appellation in Molise is Biferno DOC. The white is a blend of Trebbiano and Bombino Bianco that gives wines with plenty of citrus notes, fresh and zingy, while the red is a blend of Montepulciano and Aglianico, usually medium- to full-bodied with plenty of structure.

One producer of Biferno, Di Majo Norante, is a top producer in the Molise region – its history dates back to 1800, and it now makes wines from a wide range of grapes in a very traditional way, respecting and valuing the terroir of Molise.

Falanghina, the white variety that has established a name for itself in the neighbouring southern region of Campania, is also grown in Molise. Thanks to the soils, rich in limestone and sand, the variety here produces wines with more freshness and higher salinity.

From light, crisp whites to rich, complex reds, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise offer the consumer a wide spectrum of wines and styles to explore and enjoy.

This eastern coastal slice of Italy will surprise you, not only for its memorably rugged and rustic scenery, but for its incredible wines that hitherto have largely flown under the radar.

Briccarello’s pick of Marche, Abruzzo and Molise wines:

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Cognac is widely acknowledged to be the world’s greatest brandy and, like a fine wine, it owes that status to the land it calls home, the legally protected Cognac region of western France.

This large and diverse area has 78,000ha of vineyards, most of them planted with Ugni Blanc (or Trebbiano) , a white grape that produces light, acidic wines perfectly suited to distillation. The finest and longest-aged Cognacs are sourced from the spongy chalk soils of the Grande Champagne zone just south of the Charente river, as well as quality locations in nearby Petite Champagne and Borderies.

Distillation turns wine into a fruity spirit that’s ready for maturation in French oak barrels. The amount of time spent in barrels defines the style of the Cognac: at least two years for VS, four for VSOP, 10 for XO – and many decades for the finest blends and vintages.

All of these factors conspire to create a spirit of great versatility, whether your taste is for a refreshing mixed drink with ice and soda or a classic cocktail such as the Sidecar. Or maybe you’re looking for a complex brandy to sip and savour.

Here’s a selection to launch you on your Cognac voyage of discovery…

Best Cognacs for beginners

Augier L’Océanique

A left-field Cognac sourced from a single harvest on the Atlantic Ile d’Oléron, this has a relatively youthful, lightly floral character with zesty grapefruit notes – and its intriguing maritime edge might endear it to Cognac-phobic whisky lovers. The Augier name has a long history in Cognac, and was revived several years ago by the owner of Martell. Alcohol 40.1%

Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2008

Hine is one of several specialists in vintage Cognacs – produced, as the name suggests, from a single harvest. This is an unusually light example sourced from the company’s own Grande Champagne vineyards and bottled in 2018. Expressive and delicately vinous, with lots of floral character, red fruit and honeyed oak. Alc 42.7%

Frapin 1270

VS Cognacs are the starting-point, and they’re best consumed mixed and in cocktails like the Sidecar or the Vieux Carré. A rare example from Grande Champagne, this is unusually aromatic and supple, thanks to distillation on the lees and a gentle touch in the cellar. Why 1270? That’s the year when the Frapin family started growing grapes in the region. Alc 40%

Guillon-Painturaud Réserve Single Estate

Cognac is dominated by four big companies (Courvoisier, Hennessy, Rémy Martin and Martell) but you have to delve deeper to fully appreciate the region’s diversity. This superb example from an excellent family producer in Grande Champagne has spent 10 years in cask, accumulating a nicely balanced mix of floral notes, soft vanilla and light ginger, with citrus emerging on the finish. Alc 40%

Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise Crystal Decanter

David Baker of Hermitage Cognacs has spent decades unearthing hidden Cognac gems, and this is one of his greatest finds. Now about 70 years old, it has an astonishingly velvety texture, and you could write a book about the complex, lingering flavours on show here. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely (and it is a one-litre decanter). Alc 43%

Jean Fillioux Réserve Familiale

The Fillioux family has historic links to the dynasty of Hennessy master blenders, but there the similarities end. A classic Grande Champagne Cognac of great age sourced from the family domaine, this has all the hallmarks of jasmine, orange blossom and tangerine peel, silkily leading into walnut, mocha and cigar leaf. Alc 40%

Martell VSOP

Aged for a minimum of four years, VSOP Cognacs are great all-rounders – perfect for mixing and cocktails, but smooth enough to sip neat as well. Martell is known for its linear, fruit-forward style, and this example combines a basket of tropical fruits with spice and tannin from quite forward oak. Alc 40%

Rémy Martin XO

Another of the four big houses, Rémy Martin specialises in producing Cognacs at VSOP level and above, sourcing its grapes from Grande and Petite Champagne. This XO epitomises its signature style of supple smoothness – rich with aromas of date, cinnamon and nutmeg, reinforced by tannin from the oak and lifted by just the merest pinch of anise. A benchmark XO. Alc 40%

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Away from the crowds of Tuscany, Umbria offers a quieter side of Italy. It is known as the ‘green heart’ of Italy and is the only Italian region without a coastal border, being enclosed by the Marche, Tuscany and Lazio.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for five wines from Umbria to try

Umbria: factbox

Annual production: 644,000hL

Hectares under vine: 12,400ha

Key varieties: Sangiovese (22%), Trebbiano (17%), Grechetto (13%) and Sagrantino (6%)

Producers to know Antinori, Lungarotti, Tabbarini, Pardi, Antonelli, Arnaldo-Caprai, Tenuta Bellafonte, Bocale, Scacciadiavoli, Barberani Decugnano dei Barbi, Tenute Lunelli, Enrico Neri, Alessandro Leoni.

Umbria is a landscape of beautiful lakes and medieval hilltop villages which seem to rise from the mist: notably Assisi, Spoleto, Todi and Montefalco.

Umbria has two DOCGs (Montefalco Sagrantino and Torgiano Rosso Riserva), 13 DOCs and six IGPs.

The best-known Umbrian white wine is Orvieto DOC from the beautiful city of the same name, with its soaring 14th century cathedral. A blend of Grechetto and Trebbiano, Orvieto was originally made in a golden semi-sweet abboccato style but in recent years the drier amabile and secco styles have become more prominent.

Producers to look out for include Decugnano dei Barbi, Palazzone, Neri and Niccolo Barberani. Outside the DOC, Alessandro Leoni blends the best traditions with innovation in his lively Grechetto/Riesling blend, La Marchesa.

Another development is the vibrant, characterful white wines that are being made from Trebbiano di Spoletino in and around Montefalco, especially by producers such as Tabarrini, Belone and Antonelli.

On an international level, Antinori’s world-class Chardonnay and Grechetto blend, Cervaro della Sala continues to shine. In Gambero Rosso’s Italian Wines 2021 guide, Cervaro della Sala was awarded its 30th Tre Bicchieri for the 2018 vintage!

Umbria’s DOCGs

Of the two DOCG wines of Umbria, Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG has taken huge strides forward in quality. The native Sagrantino grape produces powerful, highly tannic red wines that need to age. Having attended the Anteprima in Montefalco over the last five years, I have seen the quality and suppleness of the tannins improve dramatically.

Torgiano was established as a DOC in 1968 with the help of Giorgio Lungarotti and in 1990 Torgiano Rosso Riserva achieved DOCG status. Made predominantly from Sangiovese (minimum 70%) with Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo and Montepulciano, it produces a medium-bodied red wine with herbal, bitter cherry notes.

If you are a wine lover in Torgiano you must include a visit to the Museo del Vino di Torgiano which Chiara Lungarotti, Giorgio’s daughter and CEO of Lungarotti, describes as ‘one of the best wine museums in the world’.

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Cognac was made by the blenders. Through their international connections and commercial nous, the merchants created a global powerhouse that remains dominated by their family names to this day: Jas Hennessy, Jean Martell, Rémy Martin, Emmanuel Courvoisier.

Brand power has been the key to Cognac’s success, but has something been lost along the way? At a time when we yearn to know more about where our food and drink comes from, and how it is made, might VSOP and XO blends appear anonymous – soulless even? But not all Cognacs are made this way. For a number of quality-focused houses, the land is absolutely central to what they do.

Scroll down for Woodard’s tasting notes for eight terroir-driven Cognacs to try

Nowhere is this more obvious than at Frapin, which produces all its Cognacs from its own vines, and doesn’t make anything for anyone else. Frapin’s Château de Fontpinot property, with its 240ha of vineyards, sits in the lap of the Grande Champagne ‘cru’ sub-region, where the sponge-like chalk soils allow the vines to delve down 10m in search of water and nutrients.

The house’s Château Fontpinot XO and its vintage bottlings epitomise this approach, with all the processes taking place on the property, from picking the grapes to bottling the mature Cognacs, which combine extraordinary finesse with understated power. Look out for the imminent release of a Frapin 1989 vintage, aged for 30 years, as well as the ultra-high-end Cuvée Rabelais, which is blended from the oldest eaux-de-vie [individual distilled spirits] in Frapin’s ‘paradis’ cellars.

At first glance, Delamain’s provenance credentials may appear dubious. This is the quintessential négociant, blending and bottling eaux-de-vie, with no vineyards of its own. But that wasn’t always the case: the family only left farming behind in 1910.

Now, more than a century later, it has returned to manage 20ha of vines at Bellevigne in Grande Champagne. And Delamain has cemented this renewed focus on the land with its Pléiade Collection: annual releases of single-cask, often single-vineyard Cognacs bearing the names of hamlets and communes – Bonneuil, Ambleville, Bouteville – that may not be familiar now, but could one day be as well-known as Ambonnay or Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in Champagne.

Picturesque Bonneuil, with its rolling, chalk-flecked rows of vines, has already edged into the spotlight, thanks to Hine. The Domaines Hine bottlings from its 80ha estate in Bonneuil are an exercise in the exposition of terroir through Cognac: single-vintage, aged for less than a decade, with a light touch in the cellar allowing the distillate to shine.

‘We want to show what the vineyard does in any year – really closer to wine than to the conventional idea of Cognac,’ says cellar master Eric Forget. These elegant, delicate Cognacs show all the floral tension of Grande Champagne.

Regional diversity

Others have foregone Cognac’s heartland to explore the region’s huge diversity: Camus is the largest landowner in the tiny Borderies enclave, and has made a speciality of its Borderies VSOP and XO bottlings. The house has also tapped Cognac’s extremes, from the maritime-influenced vineyards on the Atlantic-lapped Ile de Ré island, to the warmer Dordogne for its Saint-Aulaye and Return to Saint-Aulaye bottlings, vintage Cognacs created from Colombard grapes.

These products are relatively rare – the Camus Saint-Aulaye releases were only 3,000 bottles each, for example – and, although they shine a light on the diverse terroir of the Cognac region, it’s important to remember that they remain exceptions to the rule of blending here.

‘Single vineyards, single years, single casks are all growing in popularity, which sits in opposition to the blending tradition, but these opportunities only really exist at the upper end of what nature can offer,’ points out Charles Braastad, Delamain managing director.

‘An eau-de-vie must be innately a quite extraordinary thing to reach beyond its possibilities as part of a blend and merit decades of standalone treatment from a cellar master.’

Terroir focus

It would also be unfair to accuse the big houses of entirely ignoring where their Cognacs come from. Martell has long been a huge fan of Borderies – showcasing the cruinits CordonBleu expression especially. Meanwhile, the house’s recently launched Dame-Jeanne Collection included a 1971 vintage from Fins Bois, which is not an area generally synonymous with long ageing and the highest quality.

‘All terroirs can produce exceptional Cognacs,’ explains Martell cellar master Christophe Valtaud, highlighting three key factors: the location and soil; the climate of a particular year; and the knowhow of the farmer, distiller, cooper and cellar master. ‘The 1971 Martell Cognac from the Dame-Jeanne Collection is a perfect example of this quest for excellence, where the combination of these three elements makes the eau-de-vie so special.’

Meanwhile, Hennessy master blender Renaud Fillioux de Gironde is responsible for making the world’s best-selling Cognac. ‘You could think that this importance of provenance is therefore less,’ he says. ‘In fact, it’s the opposite: we taste more than 10,000 samples every year to assess the quality of each batch.

‘We follow the quality achieved by each grape-grower. We know them, where they are, how they work. We work constantly with them to improve our ability to get the best from the potential of their vineyards.

‘As the master blender,’ Fillioux de Gironde adds, ‘my job is then to put together the eaux-de-vie to get the best blend possible. At Hennessy, for Cognac-making, “provenance” is not a destination, but part of the journey.’

Cognacs with a sense of place: eight to try

Camus Single Estate Borderies VSOP

From the smallest Cognac cru comes this lovely example of its signature style, with plenty of restraint but charming perfumed fruit and a floral undertone, backed up by vanilla and spice. Alcohol 40%

Delamain Pléiade, Collection Révélation, Bonneuil

This is a very different Bonneuil Cognac to the Domaines Hine example: long-aged, with scents of vine flowers, some almost confected fruit – sweet cherry to the fore – and alluring notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. Alc 45%

Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2010

The fourth Hine Bonneuil release, this shows the development of the concept with a perfectly balanced, elegant and fruit- forward expression of the excellent 2010 harvest, with light spice from the oak and a nip of menthol. Alc 42.1%

Frapin Château Fontpinot XO

Frapin always treads a fine line between elegance, complexity and structure – and this benchmark expression is the perfect example. Hedgerow florals, creamy vanilla and an edge of spice and tannin from the cask. Alc 41%

Guillon-Painturaud Hors d’Age

This is a reliable, historic house (the Pineau is also superb) with formidable aged stocks and 18ha of prime Grande Champagne vineyards, put to good use here with a medium-weight, power- meets-finesse Cognac that’s seen about 30 summers. Alc 40%

Hennessy XO

The original XO, this is a Cognac in a traditional style – rich and decadent, with powerful cask influence – and which epitomises the art of blending: combining a bewildering array of eaux-de-vie to make them sing. Alc 40%

Martell Cordon Bleu 

Of all of Martell’s Cognacs, Cordon Bleu brings the qualities of the Borderies cru to the fore, with its characteristic elegance overlaid onto seductive orchard fruits and sumptuous spiced vanilla. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand Sélection des Anges

From one of the most forward-thinking of Grande Champagne houses, decades in cask have left a velvet, seamless Cognac that melds dried flowers, plummy fruit, walnuts and dark honey. Alc 41.8%

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The Gascon countryside is quintessential rural France: picture-postcard landscapes, bastide villages and a sleepy atmosphere. Unlike the monoculture of the Médoc or the Côte d’Or, vines here compete for space with sunflowers, maize and cattle.

This is the home of Armagnac, France’s oldest distilled spirit. Reflecting the countryside it calls home, Armagnac is a drink of great variety and nuance – arguably more so than its more celebrated rival, Cognac.

Lying to the north of the Armagnac region, the Cognac region stretches from just above Bordeaux to as far north as La Rochelle, and eastwards from the Atlantic to beyond Angoulême. So what, apart from origin, differentiates them?

Cognac: the region

There are about 78,000ha of vineyards in Cognac, split into six zones or crus:

Grande Champagne: The most prized, with deep, crumbly chalk soils and located to the south of the Charente river. Produces floral, fine-toned eaux-de-vie that benefit from long ageing.

Petite Champagne: Surrounding Grande Champagne, with less-crumbly chalk soils and a more oceanic climate. Produces floral, lightly fruity Cognacs.

Borderies: A small enclave north of the Charente. It has less chalk, producing aromatic but faster-ageing Cognacs.

Fins Bois: The largest cru, Fins Bois surrounds the first three, and has mostly thin clay/limestone soils. Produces fruity, faster-maturing Cognacs.

Bons Bois: A varied cru surrounding Fins Bois, with a number of different soil and climate types.

Bois Ordinaires/Bois à Terroirs: Covering the Atlantic coast and the Ile d’Oléron and Ile de Ré. Unsurprisingly, it has a strong oceanic influence.

Armagnac: the region

Much smaller than Cognac, there are 15,000ha of vines planted in the IGP Côtes de Gascogne and PDO Floc de Gascogne, of which around 4,200ha are identified exclusively for Armagnac production. The region is split into three zones:

Bas-Armagnac: Located to the west, this area was once under the Atlantic Ocean. When the waters receded to the Bay of Biscay, they left behind tawny sands and boulbènes – a sand/silt mix – with a high iron content from the nearby Pyrenees. This soil makes Bas-Armagnac the heart of the region, source of the finest and longest-lived brandies, of fruitiness, structure and delicacy.

Ténarèze: Lying to the east, soils here are a mixed bag of chalk-clay plus some boulbènes. Armagnacs made here tend to be rounder and richer, but still express their finest qualities only after decades of ageing.

Haut-Armagnac: An L-shaped territory embracing Bas-Armagnac and Ténarèze to the east and south. Chalky soils, highly prized in the Grande Champagne part of Cognac, are less sought-after here, with only a few vineyards scattered throughout the area.

Cognac grapes

Although there are six permitted grape varieties in Cognac, one is certainly the star performer. Ugni Blanc covers 98% of Cognac’s vineyards and is prized for its resistance to disease, its high acidity and low sugar levels. It produces a light, neutral and acidic wine (typically 8%-9% abv), that is ideally suited to distillation and ageing.

Folle Blanche was historically Cognac’s dominant variety, but it has fallen from favour because of its sensitivity to rot when grafted. It now covers less than 1% of the vineyard, producing aromatic and well-balanced Cognacs.

A new cross of Ugni Blanc and Folle Blanche, Folignan has an aromatic character. It can only make up 10% of a Cognac blend. The other varieties – Colombard, Montils and Sémillon – are insignificant.

Armagnac grapes

When it comes to grapes, the contrast between Cognac and Armagnac is even more evident. While Ugni Blanc accounts for practically the entirety of Cognac production, here it sits cheek-by-jowl with Folle Blanche, the wine grape Colombard, six little-planted curiosities – and the intriguing Baco.

Ugni Blanc is loved here for the same reason as in Cognac, producing wines with high acidity and low alcohol, ideally suited to distillation – giving Armagnacs of precision, fine fruit and smoothness.

The only hybrid grape permitted in a French AC, Baco is a crossing of Folle Blanche and the hybrid Noah. Created in 1898 by Landais schoolmaster François Baco, it was a post-phylloxera remedy when Folle Blanche had difficulty grafting onto resistant rootstocks. The maker of singularly unimpressive wine, Baco is transformed by the boulbènes soils of Bas-Armagnac into a spirit of unbridled power and complexity. Often hard work when young, Baco Armagnacs are softened by long ageing in barrel, sometimes spending decades in oak before they reach their peak of mellow complexity.

The contrast between Baco and Folle Blanche couldn’t be greater. Light and delicate, Folle Blanche is vulnerable to mildew and rot. But in the hands of a master it boasts a jasmine-scented nose with light spices and great finesse – the other end of the style spectrum from structured, four-square Baco.

How Cognac is made

Distillation must be completed by 31 March following the harvest, and comprises a small-batch, double distillation in a Charentais copper pot still. Some producers distil ‘on the lees’, including the dead yeast and pulp from the winemaking process, to give a more complex spirit character.

Cognac must be matured in oak barrels for at least two years prior to release, but is often aged for much longer. Many factors influence the character of the maturing eau-de-vie, including: oak origin (usually Tronçais or Limousin forests), age of barrel (younger casks give more flavour, but decades-old barrels have little or no influence beyond the processes of evaporation and micro-oxygenation) warehouse and barrel location.

Cognac cellar masters use a variety of cellar types – some drier, some more humid, some cooler and some warmer. Eaux-de-vie maturing in humid cellars lose more alcohol than water, while those ageing in drier cellars lose more water than alcohol. This influences spirit strength and style.

The vast majority of Cognacs are blends, composed by the cellar master from eaux-de-vie of various ages and origins to create a Cognac that is balanced, complex and consistent. Distilled water is added to dilute to the desired strength, which is usually 40% abv.

How Armagnac is made

The traditional method of Armagnac production, dating back nearly 200 years, uses a single still, the Armagnacais alambic. This allows a continuous distillation, in contrast to the batch-by-batch, double distillation practised in Cognac. But there are a few double stills in Armagnac too, after the practice was revived in the early 1970s.

To generalise, the eaux de vie made using the Cognac method are stronger (as they’re distilled twice) and, depending on your point of view, either finer or more straightforward – because only the middle part of the distillate, the heart, is used.

But it doesn’t follow that Armagnac is therefore more rustic or less refined, as much depends on the individual still used, and how it is run. Skilled distillation to a relatively low strength (about 55% alcohol) preserves fragrance and fruit, enhancing smoothness and complexity.

With a spirit that is often aged for decades, the barrels used for maturation are just as crucial as the distillation. For the first year or two, the eau de vie is aged in new barrels – typically 400 to 420 litres, of wider-grained, spicy Gascon oak, or tighter-grained, less influential Limousin oak – to mellow and achieve a peak of wood influence. Then the eau de vie is transferred into older, more neutral barrels for continued maturation, with the finest, longest-lived often moving into large glass dames-jeannes or bonbonnes after decades in wood.

Is Armagnac more distinctive and varied than Cognac? Certainly. Does that make it better? It depends what you like. Such comparisons are invidious, anyway. I’d say it was a case of horses for courses – if I didn’t think Cognac and Armagnac were different beasts altogether.

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It’s fair to say that Trebbiano is not a glamorous grape. Widely planted throughout most of Italy, its reputation is one of a ‘workhorse’ variety with a largely neutral aroma and flavour profile. So how is it possible that one of Italy’s greatest white wines – Valentini’s Trebbiano d’Abruzzo – is also made from this variety?

The short answer is that it isn’t: to understand the gulf between Trebbiano’s reputation and its potential, we must understand that ‘Trebbiano’ is not one but a group of mostly unrelated grapes, tied together by similar characteristics rather than DNA, including Trebbiano Romagnolo, Trebbiano Giallo, Trebbiano di Soave (genetically identical to Verdicchio) and Trebbiano Toscana.

The principal variety in this group is Trebbiano Toscana. As the name suggests, its heartland is Tuscany, along with the other central Italian regions of Lazio, Umbria, Le Marche, and Abruzzo. Trebbiano Toscana is also grown further afield. It’s known as Ugni Blanc in France, where it is a key component of Cognac as well as a popular blending variety and is found as far away as Australia and California. Its high-yielding nature and good acidity has made it perfect for mass-production blends and value single-varietal wines. In Italy, it is a permitted variety in dozens of DOCs. Unfortunately, its use in these scenarios has not helped its reputation, and it is widely regarded (correctly or not) as a characterless variety.

Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

In Abruzzo, another Trebbiano can be found: Trebbiano Abruzzese. Here, on the Adriatic coast, this floral and fruity variety produces wines which differ stylistically from the largely neutral Toscana variety, capable of reflecting terroir and responding positively to various winemaking techniques.

Abruzzo has approximately 9,000 hectares of Trebbiano vines planted (compared to approximately 17,000ha for Montepulciano), with only 12ha declared as Bombino Bianco (see below).

The Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC was established in 1972, four years after the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC. Wines labelled as such must contain a minimum of 85% Trebbiano Abruzzese and/or Trebbiano Toscana, or alternatively Bombino Bianco, which some growers believe is the same variety as Trebbiano Abruzzesse. Other varieties permitted include Cococciola, Passerina and Malvasia. In reality, many wines in the DOC are made with Abruzzese as a very high proportion of the blend, if not 100%.

Winemaking

Like most wine regions, winemaking methods vary from producer to producer, but Trebbiano d’Abruzzo – whether fermented in stainless steel, amphora or oak – almost always spends time on its lees and undergoes partial or full malolactic fermentation.

The resulting wines, especially those made from low-yielding vines, can be textured and complex, with delightfully bright acidity and delicious flavours including green apples, stone fruits and tangy citrus – a combination that ensures the best examples will age well for a number of years.

The wines below are some top picks from the Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC, and we encourage you to track the top examples down as they not only offer fantastic value for money but will improve with age and are great with food.

Tasting Trebbiano d’Abruzzo:

What is Cognac?

Cognac is a type of brandy – a distilled spirit made from grapes – produced exclusively in a region of western France that’s strictly regulated by a GI (geographical indication).

The Cognac-making process involves harvesting white grapes, making wine, distilling that wine twice, then maturing it in oak barrels for at least two years – often for much longer.

Most Cognacs are blends, created by combining the distilled spirits – known as eaux-de-vie – of different ages and from different origins. Classifications range from the youngest (VS) to older expressions such as VSOP and XO.

More than 200 million bottles of Cognac are sold every year, 98% of them outside France. Cognac is a versatile spirit that can be consumed in simple mixed drinks, in an array of cocktails, or sipped on its own.

Who makes Cognac?

• Winegrowers: Numbering well over 4,000, they mainly sell their wine to distillers, but some bottle their own Cognac.
• Professional distillers: They buy wines, distil and sell them – or custom-distil them for other producers.
• Négociants: Some 280 Cognac houses buy wines to distil, unaged eaux-de-vie, or casks of mature Cognac. These include Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier, who together account for about 85% of global Cognac sales.

Where is Cognac made?

There are about 78,000ha of vineyards in Cognac, stretching from just above Bordeaux to as far north as La Rochelle, and eastwards from the Atlantic to beyond Angoulême. The vineyards are split into six zones or crus:

• Grande Champagne: The most prized, with deep, crumbly chalk soils and located to the south of the Charente river. Produces floral, fine-toned eaux-de-vie that benefit from long ageing.
• Petite Champagne: Surrounding Grande Champagne, with less-crumbly chalk soils and a more oceanic climate. Produces floral, lightly fruity Cognacs.
• Borderies: A small enclave north of the Charente. It has less chalk, producing aromatic but faster-ageing Cognacs.
• Fins Bois: The largest cru, Fins Bois surrounds the first three, and has mostly thin clay/limestone soils. Produces fruity, faster-maturing Cognacs.
• Bons Bois: A varied cru surrounding Fins Bois, with a number of different soil and climate types.
• Bois Ordinaires/Bois à Terroirs: Covering the Atlantic coast and the Ile d’Oléron and Ile de Ré. Unsurprisingly, it has a strong oceanic influence.

What grape varieties go into Cognac?

There are six permitted grape varieties in Cognac:

• Ugni Blanc: Covering 98% of Cognac’s vineyards, and prized for its resistance to disease, its high acidity and low sugar levels. Produces a light, neutral and acidic wine (typically 8%-9% abv), ideally suited to distillation and ageing.
• Folle Blanche: Historically Cognac’s dominant variety, it has fallen from favour because of its sensitivity to rot when grafted. Now covers less than 1% of the vineyard, producing aromatic and well-balanced Cognacs.
• Folignan: A new cross of Ugni Blanc and Folle Blanche, with an aromatic character. Can only make up 10% of a blend.
• The other varieties – Colombard, Montils and Sémillon – are insignificant.

How is Cognac made?

Winemaking

The harvest – usually carried out by machine – lasts from about mid-September to mid-October, with conventional vinification giving a highly acidic wine of around 9% abv. No sugar or sulphites can be added.

Distillation

This must be completed by 31 March following the harvest, and comprises a small-batch, double distillation in a Charentais copper pot still. Some producers distil ‘on the lees’, including the dead yeast and pulp from the winemaking process, to give a more complex spirit character.

The process is as follows:

• The first chauffe or distillation creates the first distillate, the brouillis, with a strength of roughly 28%-32% abv.
• The second chauffe – sometimes called repasse or bonne chauffe – distils the brouillis, creating an eau-de-vie of around 70%-72% abv, once the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ from the start and end of the spirit run are eliminated. These can be redistilled with the next batch.

Maturation

Cognac must be matured in oak barrels for at least two years prior to release, but is often aged for much longer. Many factors influence the character of the maturing eau-de-vie, including:

• oak origin (usually Tronçais or Limousin forests)
• grain width
• age of barrel (younger casks give more flavour, but decades-old barrels have little or no influence beyond the processes of evaporation and micro-oxygenation)
• warehouse and barrel location. Cognac cellar masters use a variety of cellar types – some drier, some more humid, some cooler and some warmer. Eaux-de-vie maturing in humid cellars lose more alcohol than water, while those ageing in drier cellars lose more water than alcohol. This influences spirit strength and style.

Blending

The vast majority of Cognacs are blends, composed by the cellar master from eaux-de-vie of various ages and origins to create a Cognac that is balanced, complex and consistent. Distilled water is added to dilute to the desired strength, which is usually 40% abv.

Cognac classifications

Cognac must be matured for at least two years before bottling, and must have a strength of at least 40% abv. Classifications include:

• VS: At least two years old. More than half the Cognac sold in the world is VS.
• VSOP: At least four years old. Just over one-third of global Cognac sales are VSOP.
• XO: At least 10 years old.
• XXO: At least 14 years old.

Other classifications are as follows:

• Aged for at least three years: Supérieur, Cuvée Supérieure or Qualité Supérieure.
• Aged for at least five years: Vieille Réserve, Réserve Rare or Réserve Royale.
• Aged for at least six years: Napoléon, Très Vieille Réserve, Très Vieux, Héritage, Très Rare, Excellence or Suprême.

If a cru is named on the label – Grande Champagne, for example – then the Cognac must be 100% from that cru. ‘Fine Champagne’ designates a Cognac blended from Grande and Petite Champagne, with at least 50% from Grande Champagne.

Vintage Cognacs – bottled by specialists such as Hine, Frapin and Delamain – must be 100% from the year named.

How to drink Cognac

Most Cognac in the world is drunk mixed – with water, over ice, or with mixers including soda, lemonade and cola.

Cognac also has a long heritage in cocktails, with classics including the Sidecar, Vieux Carré and Horse’s Neck.

The finer Cognacs – XO and above, plus vintages – are usually consumed neat to fully appreciate their complexity and character. A stemmed tulip-shaped glass is the best vessel from which to savour Cognac’s aromas and flavours.

Top Cognacs: eight names to know

Hennessy

The largest producer by far. It has a rich, sometimes woody style, ascending from VS through VSOP and XO to high-end expressions such as Paradis and Richard Hennessy.

Martell

Tending towards purity and fruit expression, thanks to Martell’s insistence on distilling clear wines only. Traditionally a user of the small Borderies cru.

Rémy Martin

Exclusively sources from Grande and Petite Champagne, specialising in VSOP and above. Also makes the high-end Louis XIII expressions.

Courvoisier

A maker of Cognacs of finesse and balance. Headquartered in Jarnac, with an historic association with Napoleon.

Hine

Prized for its elegant, fine style. A vintage specialist – look out for Jarnac-matured and ‘early-landed’ (aged in the UK) bottlings from the same year.

Frapin

Makes and ages all its Cognacs from its own vineyards. Another bottler of vintages, and single-estate Cognacs from Château de Fontpinot.

Camus

Has a broad range of expressions, including provenance-rich bottlings from the Ile de Ré off the Atlantic coast.

Delamain

Has a stellar reputation for high-end blends and single vintages, with a supple, complex style that allows the distillate to shine through.

See also: 

Rare, ‘oldest’ Cognac from 1762 fetches nearly $150,000 at auction

The grapes spirits quiz 

Italian white wines come in a huge range of styles, offering food lovers lots of potential for delicious pairings. Fiona Beckett travels from north to south in the country, seeking out the most food-friendly regional wines and suggesting dishes to match them…

It’s impossible to think of Italian wine outside the context of food; certainly in the minds of many Italians (unless they’re exceptionally well travelled) it’s impossible to even think outside their regional dishes. And why should they, with the abundance of local vineyards and native grape varieties? The fact that food and wine have grown up side by side makes the combination as natural as breathing. That said, things have changed – particularly in areas such as Tuscany and Sicily. Wines from these regions now reflect more cosmopolitan influences, as international varieties have taken root and given a new, more polished take on indigenous grapes.

Scroll down for Fiona Beckett’s best Italian white wines with food

Regional differences have also been eroded to some extent by techniques such as skin contact – just as they were decades ago by the advent of stainless steel and the adoption of new oak for ageing. But if these wine making trends give new life to disregarded grapes such as Trebbiano (of which there are now some spectacular examples) it’s hard to argue that’s a bad thing. There’s so much value to be had among Italian whites too – often the more modest the better. Grapes such as Verdicchio, Vernaccia and Vermentino are a welcome sight on a wine list: fairly priced, modest in alcohol and – despite their apparent neutrality, which tends to make them unremarkable in a tasting line-up – wonderfully versatile with food.

Italians, especially in regions such as Piedmont and Tuscany, tend to treat whites as a warm-up for the main act, which is almost always a prestigious red. But I hope to convince you that the whites deserve a starring role on their own account. And not just to go with Italian food.

Northwest Italy

Piedmont has always been regarded as the gastronomic heart of Italy, with wines to match – though the highest accolades tend to be reserved for the reds.

Coming from the home of creamy risottos and decadently rich tajarin pasta (which can have up to 12 egg yolks in the recipe) and of course the famous white truffles, Piedmont whites need some weight to hold their own. The Aldo Conterno Bussiador Chardonnay, which I had at Margot in London’s Covent Garden recently, absolutely ticked that box.

The most familiar local wine to most wine lovers will be Gavi, Italy’s answer to Chablis – well, inexpensive Chablis at least – a reliable buy from supermarket own-label ranges and a good match for risottos or creamy carbonara. But for a more rewarding experience, focus on the fragrant local Arneis grape, generally found in Roero, which makes both an appealing aperitif and a partner for simply cooked vegetable dishes and salads.

Meanwhile, down in Liguria along the coast, you’ll find Vermentino hitting the spot with the local trofie con pesto (local pasta with basil and Parmesan cheese sauce). You may also be surprised to find some good Rieslings from producers such as GD Vajra and Poderi Colla, both in Langhe, that are perhaps less at home with this rich local cuisine than with Asian-style salads and noodles.

Northeast Italy

An immensely varied area geographically and culturally, the northeast runs from the flat plains of the Veneto up to the mountains of Alto Adige and Trentino. It includes familiar wine names such as Soave, Pinot Grigio and Lugana, and the less explored Ribolla Gialla and Friulano that you’ll find for just a couple of euros in the bacari (wine bars) of Venice.

These two are a much better bet than Prosecco and go very well with the local seafood. There are two main trends at work in this part of Italy, particularly in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. First is the clean-as-a-whistle modern varietals such as Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio that work as well with international dishes as the local food. There’s no reason not to pair Pinot Grigio with sushi, for example, or even a chicken noodle salad.

Secondly, the northeast is also the heart of Italy’s natural wine movement, spreading over the border into Slovenia and down the eastern side of the Adriatic. Look out for big-name producers such as Gravner and Radikon whose white – or rather orange – wines would work as well with Middle Eastern, North African, Turkish and Georgian food as they do with local Italian dishes like suckling pig.

Central Italy

Tuscany and its reds so dominate central Italy that it’s easy to forget about the region’s whites – as indeed the locals, consciously or otherwise, seem to do. I remember drinking Chianti with every kind of antipasto – including soup – on one visit, as if there wasn’t a white wine within miles. In fact there are plenty. Top Tuscan winemakers often make a flagship international-style white (usually from Chardonnay or Vermentino), while the versatile Vernaccia di San Gimignano or Verdicchio from the Marche offer some of the best value white wines around.

Although Tuscany has a coast, both it and inland Umbria are more about country fare. Think simple soups, pastas and grills cooked over an open fire. Rabbit is a typical ingredient that lends itself just as well to a white wine as a red – as would a classic ragù bolognese into which Italians would be likely to pour some white wine anyway.

In and around Rome too (Lazio) there’s plenty of white wine-friendly food. Crispy deep-fried artichokes are much better with a fresh white such as Grechetto – a variety of Greek origin that you find in both Umbria and Lazio – than with a red, as is vignole, the classic and delicious spring vegetable stew.

South Italy

You might think the South of Italy would be an area dominated by red wine, but its component regions – Basilicata, Campania, Calabria and Puglia – also produce characterful, and in some cases ambitiously priced, whites. Two of these, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino, have their own appellations. Along with Falanghina, these are wines to look out for.

It’s partly modern temperature-controlled winemaking equipment that has enabled these fresh, high-acid wines to be produced, but many vineyards are also situated on higher elevations and subject to a cooling maritime influence.

The flavours of the local southern Italian food are bold and bright, but there’s a spicy edge to Calabrian cooking in particular, thanks to the local chillies (peperoncini) and the widely used n’duja (spicy sausage) that often makes a white more refreshing than a red. That suggests you could take these wines into other cuisines with a touch of spice – if Italian n’duja why not Spanish chorizo?

The availability of seafood in this part of Italy goes without saying: southern whites are a natural match with swordfish, tuna and anchovies, and although the locals might go for a red with their pizza Napoletana, a crisp local white works just as well.

Sicily & Sardinia

Italy boasts two large and distinct islands: the Vermentino-dominated Sardinia, which is almost a one-trick pony, and Sicily with its hugely varied terrains and grape varieties – almost a wine-producing country in itself.

The big players on Sicily, like Donnafugata, Planeta and Tasca d’Almerita, operate in all parts of the island. Varieties to seek out are Grillo, which generally makes generous whites not dissimilar to Spain’s Godello, as well as the widely planted Cataratto and fine-boned, mineral Carricante, which is found on the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna (it’s the wine I’d choose with cuscus di pesce).

As you’d expect, the wines of both islands work well with seafood – you could happily eat nothing else in Sardinia. Sicily’s generous Chardonnays and white blends such as Tasca d’Almerita’s engaging Leone d’Almerita (a blend of Catarratto, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon and Gewürztraminer) pair easily with the local swordfish or with non-indigenous scallops and salmon, though they also work well with more Asian-inflected chicken or pork dishes. There’s plenty of Sauvignon and Riesling here too – in fact Sicily, although it accounts for less of the country’s wine production than it once did, is Italy in microcosm.

Fiona Beckett’s best Italian white wines with food

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The workhorse reputation of the Montepulciano grape and the confusion of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo with its boring Tuscan cousin have done this region no favours, says Stephen Brook. But seek out the best producers of these and other indigenous varieties and you’ll be pleasantly surprised...

Factbox:

Area under vine 32,725ha

Principal varieties Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Trebbiano Toscano

Annual production 3,225,499 hectolitres

DOC production 80% is red wine

DOCG production The sole wine is Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane with about 120ha

The rugged Adriatic region of Abruzzo has become synonymous with Montepulciano, a splendid and long-underrated grape variety that delivers rich and often complex red wines.

If Abruzzo still struggles to acquire a reputation as one of Italy’s serious wine regions, that is not because of any intrinsic defects in its indigenous varieties, nor because of any lack of high-quality producers: it’s because Montepulciano has a mysterious habit of leaving Abruzzo in large tankers and ending up in bottles of chianti or other italian reds on the shelves of the less illustrious northern european supermarkets. Its reputation as a workhorse variety does it no favours.

On my last visit to the region, almost six years ago, Montepulciano was ubiquitous, and the only other variety of any importance was Trebbiano. This variety carries a hereditary flaw, in that most consumers associate Trebbiano with the vapid Tuscan white wine. But Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is not the same thing as its Tuscan cousin, and its wines can be of real interest, capable of ageing surprisingly well. The high priest of the variety was Edoardo Valentini, and since his death the property has been run along traditional lines by his son Francesco. Edoardo always made Trebbiano with real texture, personality and ageing potential, and today more producers are modelling their wines on his methods. Even so, most Trebbiano d’Abruzzo remains a simple wine, untouched by oak, for early drinking.

Other varieties on the rise include Pecorino, a high-acid grape also found to the north in the Marche that thrives at higher elevations when shaded from direct sunlight. Cristiana Tiberio, who has gained a reputation for Pecorino, likes the way it seems to gain glycerol and texture during fermentation, and its aromas suggest to her sage, thyme and peach. With its freshness and attack, Pecorino is becoming increasingly popular.

Other whites are making an appearance too. Passerina and Montonico are indigenous grapes previously used mainly to make sparkling wine, but today they are vinified as dry table wines. Passerina gives abundant crops, so needs to be reduced in yield to deliver floral wines of personality and freshness. One of the most notable Montonico dry wines is from Villa Medoro.

Old faithful

Although the rediscovery of ancient varieties is always welcome, the focus in Abruzzo remains firmly on Montepulciano. It’s a versatile grape, in the sense that it can give pleasure in numerous guises. It can be vinified and aged in stainless steel to give a simple, attractive wine with freshness and transparency of fruit. If cropped low, it can be aged in casks or barriques – even new barriques – to create wines of altogether greater depth, concentration and complexity.

The oaked Montepulcianos are not really wines for everyday drinking, being too dense and powerful, but are superb winter warmers. Some can develop gamey aromas with age; others remain on a plateau, displaying primary fruit for years. Montepulciano does evolve with age, but it’s not a variety that demands bottle age to show complexity.

Another manifestation of Montepulciano is Cerasuolo, a rosé wine that is usually made by giving the juice a maceration of eight to 18 hours on the skins before fermentation. The result is a light red rather than a rosé, a wine with body and succulence. It’s very popular in the region, but exports have been growing. Even in a good pizzeria in the regional capital of Pescara, you don’t necessarily want to drink a rich red. Cerasuolo, with its vinosity and weight – ideally drunk lightly chilled – is just the ticket. Most producers agree that you mustn’t think of Cerasuolo as a way to use up your least interesting grapes; it should be made from grapes of high quality, and treated seriously.

Being a very large and dispersed region, with vineyards separated by 100km from north to south, Abruzzo is divided into many sub-regions, and there are also DOCs such as Controguerra that permit the use of non-Italian varieties such as Chardonnay or Merlot. Only someone steeped in the detail of Abruzzo terroir would be able to identify the many sub-zones for Montepulciano in the glass. Only one is of real importance: Colline Teramane, Abruzzo’s only DOCG. Located around the town of Teramo on clay and limestone soils in the region’s north, the wines from here have noticeable concentration and depth – but so can regular Montepulciano made elsewhere from low-yielding vines.

Vine training is an issue here. The traditional trellising, known as tendone, is similar to the pergola system found in many other parts of Italy. Designed to shade the bunches and make harvest less arduous, it can produce very good wines, as long as yields are kept low. Because new plantings have moved to French-style rows, the remaining tendone vineyards are old, which can also contribute to quality. Both systems of training have their advocates and merits.

Co-op country

Abruzzo is dominated by cooperatives. It’s thought that about 80% of all wine from Abruzzo is made by coops, most of which are located in hotter areas like Chieti. The best, such as Tollo and Citra, make very good wine at the top of the range – Tollo even dabbles in organic wines. But most of their products fall into the cheap and cheerful category.

So in Abruzzo, as elsewhere, it’s important to identify the best producers. The big beasts are Masciarelli, still on fine form despite the untimely death of its dynamic founder Gianni Masciarelli, and the patchier if more zany Zaccagnini. As well as the estates below, look out for the rich, polished reds from Nicodemi; the whites from Il Feuduccio; a good range of sensibly priced wines from Talamonti; the top wines (especially Montepulciano ‘Bellovedere’) of La Valentina, an estate advised by the renowned Luca D’Attoma; and the remarkable but very expensive Trebbiano from Valentini.

Written by Stephen Brook

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The workhorse reputation of the Montepulciano grape and the confusion of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo with its boring Tuscan cousin have done this region no favours, says Stephen Brook. But seek out the best producers of these and other indigenous varieties and you’ll be pleasantly surprised...

Abruzzo: Six producers to watch

Illuminati

This long-established estate in the northern district of Controguerra is today run by Stefano Illuminati. It produces more than one million bottles, of which the best known is the Riparosso Montepulciano, given moderate ageing in large casks and designed to be drunk fairly young. From old vines, and only produced in top years, is Zanna, a Colline Teramane DOCG aged for two years in casks. It’s creamy, concentrated and spicy, and inevitably tannic too. More unusual is Daniele, a gently oxidative blend of Trebbiano, Passerina and Chardonnay, also aged in casks and only made in top years; it’s marked by apricot and quince flavours. Overall, well made, ambitious wines of high consistency.

Tiberio

A visit to the Mosel so impressed young Cristiana Tiberio that she resolved to create an estate focusing on mountain vineyards with the intention of making wines – especially whites – of pronounced minerality. She founded the estate in 2004 and is now at the top of her game, producing outstanding Trebbiano and Pecorino, as well as fragrant yet lightly tannic Cerasuolo and silky Montepulciano. Her top wine is usually the citric Trebbiano Fonte Canale, made from old vines and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Look out too for her herbal, saline Pecorino, with its long, bracing finish.

Torre dei Beati

Fausto Albanesi tends and vinifies the vines near Loreto Apruntino that were inherited by his wife Adriana, although he has also purchased additional vines that bring the estate to its present 18ha. The barrel-fermented Pecorino and Trebbiano, both called Bianchi Grilli, are very good, but the star turns are his top Montepulcianos. These are Cocciapazza and Mazzamurello, parcel selections that are aged in barriques, with Mazzamurello spending 20 months in new oak. These are rich, spicy wines, with good depth of flavour and fine ageing potential. But even his basic Montepulciano is both charming and delicious. If only the names were less of a mouthful, the wines would surely enjoy greater international renown.

Cataldi Madonna

Tucked away in the inland village of Ofena in the L’Aquila region is the 27ha estate of Luigi Cataldi Madonna, who also teaches philosophy at the local university. The vineyards lie at high elevations and give wines that are quite high in acidity. A pioneer of Pecorino, in his hands it is a splendid if very assertive wine. The cranberry-scented Cerasuolo is always outstanding, and so are his red wines. Malandrino is fresh, sleek and elegant, while Toni is a parcel selection, aged mostly in new barriques. All these wines are characterised by a noticeable polish and balance.

Agriverde

Founded in 1989 in Ortona, this is one of the few organic properties in Abruzzo. The winery too is constructed entirely of natural materials. With 65ha under vine, it produces a wide range. The Solèrea Trebbiano, aged in puncheons, is concentrated and spicy, but the Montepulciano reds are the stars. Winemaker Riccardo Brighigna is very proud of Plateo, though I find it rather too oaky and extracted, with hints of overripeness. I prefer the more vibrant Riseis, which is aged in older barriques. Even the basic, unoaked Piane di Maggio is spicy and lively, with lean cherry fruit.

Villa Medoro

Former lawyer Federica Morricone was encouraged by Gianni Masciarelli to produce her own wines, basing her estate on vines inherited from her grandfather. Her first vintage was 2000 and since then she has a built a large, modern winery and has expanded the vineyards to over 100ha. She makes mineral, refreshing white wines from Montonico, Passerina and Trebbiano, but her finest white is Chimera, a parcel selection of Trebbiano. The Montepulcianos are modern in style, plummy and oaky in aroma and flavour. Her top reds are Rosso del Duca and the slightly less oaky Adrano, a barrique-aged Colline Teramane.

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The workhorse reputation of the Montepulciano grape and the confusion of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo with its boring Tuscan cousin have done this region no favours, says Stephen Brook. But seek out the best producers of these and other indigenous varieties and you’ll be pleasantly surprised...

Brook’s top Abruzzo wines

Masciarelli, Villa Gemma, Montepulciano 2006

18.5/20pts (95/100pts)

Muted oaky nose, black cherries and chocolate. Very concentrated with spicy cherry fruit, good acidity, and balsamic and chocolatey nuances. Powerful balanced and very long.

Price: £49.99 AG Wines

Drink 2014–2022

Alc 14.5%

Torre dei Beati, Mazzamurello, Montepulciano 2007

18.5/20pts (95/100pts)

Slightly gamey black fruit nose. Compact, spicy and very concentrated, with black cherry, suave texture and good length.

Price: £28.95 Handford

Drink 2014–2020

Alc 14%

Villa Medoro, Rosso del Duca, Montepulciano 2010

18.5/20pts (95/100pts)

Very ripe plum and menthol nose. Rich fruit but cut by fine acidity that gives tension and finesse. Well-integrated oak and a long, invigorating finish.

Price: £14 Genesis

Drink 2014–2020

Alc 14%

Illuminati, Zanna, Montepulciano Colline Teramane Riserva 2008

18/20pts (93/100pts)

Rich sour cherry and damson nose. Creamy, full bodied, with depth of flavour and lots of spice. Slightly dry finish but not too tannic.

Price: £15.79 (2007) London Wine Deliveries

Drink 2014–2022

Alc 14.5%

Agriverde, Solàrea, Montepulciano 2009

17.5/20pts (91/100pts)

Rich, plummy nose. Dense and quite tannic on the palate, but this wine has lovely, lively acidity and is still taut and youthful. Peppery and long.

Price: £18.50 Vinissimo

Drink 2014–2020

Alc 14%

Cataldi Madonna, Malandrino, Montepulciano 2010

17.5/20pts (91/100pts)

Ripe cherry and menthol nose. Quite full bodied yet no heavyweight, this is fresh, intense and stylish, with good acidity and length.

Price: £19.99 AG Wines

Drink 2014–2018

Alc 13%

Nicodemi, Notari, Montepulciano 2010

17.5/20pts (91/100pts)

Ripe but elegant plummy nose, with a touch of vanilla. Concentrated and full-bodied, with a svelte texture and moderate tannins. Long, with fine acidity on the finish.

Price: £14.99 (2008) Cadman

Drink 2014–2018

Alc 14%

Tiberio, Fonte Canale, Trebbiano 2012

17.5/20pts (91/100pts)

Ripe apricot nose. Rich, textured and concentrated but has fresh acidity, and a bitter lemon twist on the long, citric finish.

Price: N/A UK tiberiowine.com

Drink 2014–2018

Alc 12.5%

Valentini, Trebbiano 2004

17.5/20pts (91/100pts)

Spicy, leesy, apricot nose. Full bodied and weightier than the nose suggests, with good extract and moderate acidity. Quite long.

Price: £67.20 Fine & Rare

Drink 2014–2016

Alc 12%

Cantina Tollo, Terre di Chieti, Pecorino 2012

16.5/20pts (88/100pts)

Vintners apricot and melon nose. Fine attack, fresh, citrus and passion fruit flavours; long, with a tangy finish.

Price: £20 Yorkshire Vintners

Drink 2014–2015

Alc 13%

Talamonti, Tre Saggi, Montepulciano 2010

16.5/20pts (88/100pts)

Spicy cherry and blueberry nose. Suave and fleshy, but an easygoing style with light tannins and fresh acidity. Modern style, balanced and long.

Price: £12.70–£12.99 Penistone, Wined Up Here

Drink 2014–2018

Alc 13.5%

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This year's Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Trophy for White Regional Italy over £15 went to Casal Thaulero, Thalè, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2007 (14.2%)

Tasted against:

• Anselmet, Petite Arvine, Valle d’Aosta 2012
• Borgo Paglianetto, Jera, Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva 2010

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Trebbiano is a grape often tarnished with a shoddy reputation, but in the hands of Abruzzo’s most skilful producers, and with the right clone, it is capable of producing wines of rare character.

The Thauleros family were nobles who rose to prominence in the 1800s, and Thalè was the first wine it produced from its 2,000 hectares of vineyards. Over the centuries this winery forged a reputation as one of Abruzzo’s finest; indeed it was the first producer in the region to export its wines. In the 20th century the family ran out of heirs and the winery was under threat of closure, but fortunately it was rescued by a group of local producers in 1961.

Today Casal Thaulero has 800ha of vineyards in three locations: one plot near the Adriatic Sea; a second in the heart of Abruzzo and a third at the bottom of the Gran Sasso mountain, at 850m altitude. Total production from the three sites is 1.8 million bottles a year, although Thalè – made from the best fruit from all three vineyards – represents only 12,000 bottles; it is only made in the best vintages.

While a good deal of Trebbiano is drunk almost immediately on release, Casal Thaulero believes that the finest examples need at least three years in bottle before they start to fully realise their potential, as this Trophy proves.

Written by Decanter