2017 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Mazzamurello

In 1999, Fausto and Adriana Albanesi of Torre dei Beati, returned to their family farm in the gently undulating hills of Loreto Aprutino. This is a location between 250 to 320 meters in elevation that enjoys the push and pull of warming currents from the Adriatic sea, and the cooling currents of the Gran Sasso massif. The couple’s first goal was to convert the family vineyards, planted in 1972, to organic practices. From there, they slowly expanded. Today, the winery tends to a total of twenty hectares. The focus is on fourteen hectares of Montepulciano, ten of which are the original vines averaging fifty years old, five hectares of Pecorino replanted in 2005, and one hectare of Trebbiano planted in 2008. There’s also a new vineyard in the works, a five-hectare, high-elevation Montepulciano site, between 430 to 500 meters, closer to the Majella mountain. Fausto Albanesi, both owner and winemaker, takes a very progressive approach in an attempt to bring out the best qualities of each variety. Yields are kept to a minimum, and multiple passes are made throughout the vineyards to obtain healthy, ripe fruit. Most of the wines in this portfolio see some time in wood. For the house Montepulciano, this is more about texture, color and tannin management, more than oak influence (all neutral barrique is used here). The Trebbiano spends time in a combination of steel and tonneaux of acacia wood barrels to create a unique and seductive wine. Cocciapazza and Mazzamurello are both vineyard selections of the best Montepulciano vines. The Cocciapazza is a dark and burly example that’s matured in barrel, only some of which is new. Mazzamurello, instead, is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, seeing 100% new oak but handling it with ease. I can’t recommend these wines highly enough. My only suggestion is, if you are sensitive to barrique in your Montepulciano, then stay away from the vineyard selections. The quality found within this unique range of thought-provoking wines shines.