Oil

Podere Castorani 2009 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo “Majolica” (Abruzzi) –It’s wine. It’s red. It’s drinkable. It’s drinkable red wine. (8/10)

Green & growing

Agriverde “Riseis di Recastro” 2005 Terre di Chieti Pecorino (Abruzzi) – Surprising depth of flavor, rather than just texture (the problem I’ve had with other pecorinos), mostly in the almond and/or dry stone fruit range, but definitely preferring the former. Hums along with significant volume. Very tasty. (4/09)

Le Pew

Pepe 2001 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (Abruzzi) – Smells, unmistakably, of kriek lambic, with all the sourness and brett that implies…and not some easy-drinking Lindemans bottling either, but an extreme, take-no-prisoners Cantillon version. The texture is of drying soup, with fantastic minerality enveloped in lanolin. Very complex and strikingly long, with fine balance. Not that this is any surprise, but the wine is very divisive; among a half-dozen tasters of this bottle, about as many despise it as adore it. (12/08)

My funny Valentini

Valentini 1999 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (Abruzzi) – Smells like lambic…sour berries and an edge of brett…with leaves and fresher berries in the mix. A baffling wine. It seems flawed one moment, then fresh the next. Too old, too young, then just right. It’s impossible to get a handle on it, or to say anything useful about where it is or where it’s going. Deliciously weird. (9/08)

Cornacchia pet

Barone Cornacchia 2005 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Abruzzi) – Open and crisp, with freshly-crushed raspberries in a U-shape of food-welcoming simplicity. What you taste is all you get, but it’s a good, cheap companion for a night. (8/08)

Zamfir

Bosco 1997 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo “Pan” (Abruzzi) – Much more advanced than the previous bottle, likely due to cork failure. It’s past mature, in fact, with a dried-out character that’s not very appealing, and the bare bones of acidity and light, drying tannin are left naked to the palate. (8/08)

Pizza Pan

Bosco 1997 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo “Pan” (Tuscany) – 85% montepulciano, 15% cabernet sauvignon. Juicy and full-fruited…still…and showing very little sign that it’s eleven years old. Dark blackberry, not quite jammy but possessing that sort of concentrated density and stickiness, dominates, with a dusting of fresh, crunchy black pepper and some minor herbal notes. It’s good, despite some lingering signs of confection, and might make more sense as a New World version of this same wine, but it’s hard to complain about what’s there for the drinking right now. (7/08)