Cantina Valle Reale Popoli Pescara

The grapes for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Valle Reale come from the vineyards of Popoli and from the Convento vineyard in Capestrano. These two areas have different climatic profiles. The Convento vineyard in Capestrano is located in the Piana di Ofena and Capestrano valley, nicknamed the “Oven of Abruzzo” - and is particularly warm in summer compared with Popoli. Both vineyards benefit from the large temperature difference between day and night, which promotes high levels of acidity. The Capestrano vineyard produces grapes that yield more structured wines, while the vineyards of Popoli favour aromatic complexity. Although the two areas have different soils, the stony component, typical of mountain regions, characterises both vineyards.
The Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Valle Reale matures very slowly and retains good acidity and aromas of small red berries. The spontaneous fermentation applied to the different grape selections has allowed us to obtain a unique wine, one that only a mountain area is able to express.

The Sant'Eusanio vineyard is a small garden of vines surrounded by pine woods. It is located in the highest and coldest area of the whole Valle Reale estate at 497 m above sea level.
The north-facing exposure, the stony soil and the wide temperature swings between day and night are at the limit for the ripening of Montepulciano, to the point of making it a unique wine. It is an uncompromising expression of mountain Montepulciano and speaks the brisk language of acidity and freshness combined with a balanced structure. The vines were planted in spring 2002. The Montepulciano from the Sant’Eusanio vineyard was produced for the first time in 2009, with spontaneous fermentation. In the right vintages it represents, in its apparent simplicity, the most elegant wine in our production.
The climate change affecting our area causes damage or benefits depending on the situation it impacts. While it is true that in the past it was almost impossible to think of reaching phenolic ripeness at Sant’Eusanio, today climate change helps us here. This is an extraordinarily powerful vintage for Sant’Eusanio, yet it does not alter its fine and elegant nature. The typical and familiar acidity and fragrance that this parcel gives us are combined with a balanced structure thanks to the warm vintage. The Sant’Eusanio vineyard is a wine that ferments in stainless steel and remains in contact with its lees for one year. It is then aged in bottle for 8 months without being filtered.

The Vigna del Convento is the latest CRU, carved out within the area of the vineyards planted in the municipality of Capestrano; the land was once cultivated with vines and vegetable gardens, belonging to the ancient Convent of San Francesco, built from the mid-15th century on a hill overlooking the small village of Capestrano.
Poor soil rich in stones, but with a good clay component. In 2003 the vineyard faced the hottest harvest in the last hundred years. The microclimate, very different from that of the Popoli plateau, is warm and windy, balanced by the right amount of humidity thanks to the small lake of Capestrano, which is why the grapes from this vineyard ripen earlier. With the 2018 harvest, in the Vigna del Convento parcel, phenolic ripeness was reached that made it possible to produce this wine for the third time in twenty years. The very concentrated grapes, perfect for the vinification method using only wood, in 50 quintal Garbellotto barrels, gave us a wine of great longevity, body and structure, alongside excellent verticality and great elegance. The bouquet is complex, with pronounced herbal notes, and the tannin is elegant yet present.

It is a refined wine that comes from a true locus amoenus, where the rows stretch out in front of the ruins of a cave cellar dating back to around 1300. Here the Benedictine monks, descending from the convent in San Benedetto in Perillis, a tiny village clinging to the mountains behind Valle Reale, made and stored their wine.

A wine that comes from grapes of great quality and aromatic intensity. Deep ruby red in colour, with aromas of berries, red fruit and spices. On the palate it impresses with its structure and persistence, with good savouriness.

The “Vigneto di Popoli” wine is one of Valle Reale’s flagship labels, made from vines that are around 70 years old, grown on calcareous-clay soils. Fermentation takes place in steel tanks with only indigenous yeasts and maceration on the skins for around 10 days. Before bottling, the wine matures in French oak tonneaux for a period of around 12 months.

Vigneto di Popoli is the 1-hectare parcel dedicated to Trebbiano d'Abruzzo; further south lies the larger vineyard reserved for Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. The Montepulciano from Vigneto di Popoli is the offspring of the estate’s oldest vineyard. All the rows face south-east towards the Majella and the Morrone Mountains and benefit from the presence of a dense oak forest that borders them to the west.

The land, as with the entire plateau near Popoli, lies at 350 metres above sea level. The woodland surrounding the vineyard is rich in plant species, tall trees, shrubs and flowers, which thrive thanks to the healthy air and the purity of the waters from the source of the Pescara river that flows beneath the vineyard soil. The integrity of this environment encourages the development of native yeast strains.

Walking among these vineyards, encounters with the wildlife that inhabits these mountains are not uncommon, from deer to badgers and foxes, right through to the exceptional sightings of some wolves.