Valentini: Producer profile

Valentini’s wines are some of the most famous and sought after wines in the whole of Italy, yet the company is shrouded in mystery. It is not easy to arrange a visit, and the prices its wines command put them out of reach of most of us.

Valentini’s reputation stems from the great wines made by the late Edoardo Valentini, and since 2007 his son Francesco has maintained the high standards of his father.

Scroll down for Susan’s tasting notes & scores

The 250-hectare estate in the Colline Teramane DOCG zone in Abruzzo is planted with 40ha of Montepulciano and 30ha of Trebbiano. The number of bottles produced varies from year to year but, says Francesco, ‘we never produce more than 50,000 bottles, even in a generous year’.

What makes the estate so special is that it is working with Trebbiano, considered one of Italy’s more ‘ordinary’ varieties. But this is not just any Trebbiano – this is Trebbiano Abruzzese and Valentini is the magician who transforms it into something extraordinary. Even the ubiquitous black grape of the Abruzzo, Montepulciano, is elevated into something very special by its touch.

What marks these wines out is their incredible capacity for ageing, despite their delicacy and seeming fragility. I tasted the 1978 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo in the summer of 2019 and despite its relatively light 12.5% alcohol and no oak, it was intense, youthful and alive. The same was true for the 1979 Cerasuolo Rosé. A 1979 rosé! I could hardly believe the labels I was reading on the bottles. I am privileged to be able to taste a lot of older wines but in truth few mature into something more beautiful.

One of the big influences on the wines is the diurnal difference – the temperature difference between day and night. ‘Our vineyards are 10km from the sea and 10km from the mountains,’ says Francesco, explaining that ‘here, the mountains and the sea make the difference.’ The fact that it is so much cooler at night helps to slow down ripening, allowing flavours and aromas to accumulate in the grapes and helping to maintain acidity. It’s also notable that most of Valentini’s vineyards face north, escaping the direct midday heat of the Italian sun.

In the cellar, natural yeasts are used to ferment the fruit without temperature control. Very little SO2 is added, and the wines are unfiltered – consequently they can go through malolactic fermentation in bottle. Maturation takes place over 9-12 months in large old oak botti, which impart no oak character to the wines yet allow a small ingress of oxygen to add a textural ease.

The wines are released three to five years after the vintage, provided there is one – the quality demanded at Valentini is so high that not every year is deemed vintage-worthy. Indeed, since 1997 it has only made six vintages of Montepulciano.

Yes, you can get some bottle variation, but the wines made here are unique and have a strong identity. Valentini’s Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is considered by many to be Italy’s greatest white wine, and it is certainly one of my most memorable tasting experiences.

Valentini: The wines

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