2020 Pecorino Don Carlino

Stefano Papetti Ceroni of De Fermo speaks about biodynamics, biodiversity and low intervention with an intensity that is seldom seen. The De Fermo vineyards are located in Loreto Aprutino, between the mountains and the sea at 300-330 meters above sea level. The property has been in Eloisa De Fermo’s, Papetti Ceroni’s wife, family for over 100 years. Prior to Ceroni’s decision in 2007 to begin making wine as a hobby, all of the fruit was sold off to larger wineries. The vineyards themselves were tended to organically, and it was a natural progression to eventually create a fully biodynamic farm. Today, De Fermo is no longer a hobby; it’s a passion, and possibly even an obsession, to create wines through the most natural means possible. Varieties of ancient grains, flowers and grasses all grow within the vineyards and are used with a mixture of manure to create their own natural humus fertilizer. Raw milk treatments are sprayed on the vines in replacement of copper and sulfur. Stefano Papetti Ceroni explained, “My wines are not technological.” Grapes are destemmed by hand, followed by spontaneous fermentation in open-top wood tini for 30 to 40 days, and without temperature control. During the winemaking process, there’s no malolactic fermentation, no yeast, no clarification nor filtration, and just a small amount of sulfur is used; Ceroni matures his wines in a combination of neutral Tonneaux, large 20-hL barrels and concrete. While some may think that his practices are very risky, the results really are wines that feel “alive”. Speaking of concrete, along with a growing number of producers in the region, Ceroni has been unhappy with the way that Montepluciano d’Abruzzo is viewed throughout much of the world, being lumped together with large-production and low-quality producers, and so he created his “Concrete” lineup that features just a pure, unadulterated Montepulciano of terroir, without any mention of the DOC. While I believe that further classification of quality across the region would be a better alternative, the Concrete really does show an importance of place.