Tiberio Pecorino, Colline Pescaresi, Abruzzo, Italy 2023
Azienda Agricola Tiberio was born in 2000 when Riccardo Tiberio, then an export manager for a regional cantina, encountered a remarkable old-vine Trebbiano Abruzzese plot near the hillside town of Cugnoli — 350 meters above sea level, 23 miles inland from Pescara — and staked his family's future on it. He recognized Trebbiano Abruzzese as a genuinely rare, high-quality variety with no kinship to the Trebbiano Toscano commonly misidentified as its relative. In 2008, Riccardo handed the estate to his children: Cristiana (winemaking) and Antonio (viticulture). Cristiana trained with producers including Jacques Selosse, Nicolas Joly, and Egon Müller, and believes that meaningful wine can only emerge from deep knowledge of place. Today the estate farms 74 acres/30 hectares of vines, producing some of Abruzzo's most critically acclaimed whites and reds from native varieties.
- Winemaker: Cristiana Tiberio
- Farming: Sustainable
- Variety: 100% Pecorino (massal selection, propagated from five mother vines recovered from an abandoned vineyard on the estate)
- Terroir: The Pecorino vineyard covers 9.4 acres on a hilly estate site at 1,250 feet/380 meters elevation near Cugnoli, in the Colline Pescaresi hills of inland Abruzzo. Soils are limestone with marly-gravel subsoil. Pecorino is an ancient Apennine variety native to the ridges of Marche and Abruzzo; its sterile basal buds limit yields, which led to its near-extinction by the 1970s. Thick-skinned, small-berried, and low-yielding, the variety produces wines naturally high in both glycerol and acidity — a pairing of texture and freshness rare in white wines. Vines average 24 years of age, trained to Guyot, with a yield of 45 hl/ha.
- Vinification: Hand-harvested in the third week of August. Free-run juice only. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel using only indigenous yeasts. No malolactic fermentation. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
- Tasting Notes: Intense straw-yellow with a green tint. Aromas of citrus peel, white peach, green fig, sage, and rosemary, with a mineral undercurrent. Full-bodied on the palate with a silky, glyceral texture balanced by vibrant acidity and a saline, mineral finish.
- Food Pairings: Grilled or roasted seafood, branzino, linguine alle vongole, roasted chicken, mild hard cheeses, fresh herb-dressed salads.
- Scores: Vinous: 92 (2023 vintage, September 2024) Decanter: 92 (2023 vintage, November 2024)