Terroir and philosophy
We are proud to carry on a traditional form of winemaking which has been used since mankind first discovered how to create wine. After harvest, our grapes undergo a long, slow fermentation and maceration on their skins. This imparts a higher concentration of flavours, colour, and tannins to the wine. In the case of white wine, this extra skin contact gives it a beautiful amber colour.
After fermentation is complete, we age our best wine selections in amphorae hand-crafted from local clay by artisan potters trained in the Castelli tradition.
This small town lies just down the road from Atri and is world famous for its exceptional ceramics. Atri and the nearby towns have a long legacy for producing exquisite pottery which dates back to the Roman period. Amphorae Hadrianae were among the best made in across the entire Roman Empire, thanks to their light weight and the superior quality of the clay. It allowed those ancient winemakers to age their wines for long periods of time, much like we do today. Ageing wine in amphorae preserves the individual grape variety’s natural aromas and flavours while transforming them from fresh to dried fruit notes.
Most of our vines range from forty to fifty years old which yields grapes of fantastic concentration and depth of flavour.
Our project intends to expand, thus allowing us to offer our passionate customers the best selections of indigenous wines from the Hadrian hills. From 2022 we offer 8 selections: our Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOCG Maximo and our Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Aelio, our Pecorino Naevia, our Pontius, unique white wine from Montonico grapes of Bisenti, our Passerina Flavia, Maecia our malvasia white wine, Caelius our cherry-red wine and the Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC Publicius, from the Latin name but of Etruscan origin from which it is said derives the Montepulciano name.