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Wine Tasting Adventure

2023 Fantini, `Calalenta` Pecorino Terre di Chieti - Liberty

£14.99 GBP
£14.99 GBP

The Fantini group was founded in 1994 by Valentino Sciotti with the aim of producing top-quality wine from Abruzzo. The enterprise was so successful that the group expanded further south in Italy and its islands. Today, the Fantini group includes Cantina Diomede, Gran Sasso, Vesevo, Vigneti del Salento, Vigneti del Vulture, Tufarello, Zabù and Cantina Atzei, among others. Acclaimed winemaker and consultant Alberto Antonini oversees production, ensuring these wines offer great quality, varietal character and value. Their elegant and striking packaging makes them stand out on the shelf or table.

Fantini is the group’s flagship winery, producing wines from vineyards based in the northern part of Abruzzo, where ripeness and freshness combine in the wines. The forward and accessible Sangiovese is a case in point. All the wines made from Montepulciano have this variety's hallmark colour and intensity but with a balance and accessibility often lacking in wines from this region. The deeply coloured, intense and powerful ‘Edizione’ Cinque Autoctoni is, according to owner Valentino Sciotti, “a true taste of southern Italy”. Blending five indigenous grape varieties, Montepulciano, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Negroamaro and Malvasia Rossa, grown across Abruzzo and Puglia, it is full and powerful yet equally fresh and nicely defined.

Their Cuvée Bianco Brut is a refreshing sparkling wine made from the local variety Cococciola, while the Cuvée Rosato Brut is made with Aglianico from Basilicata. Both come in beautifully designed bottles with a Swarovski crystal on the label. The Calalenta Pecorino is wonderfully balanced, with both a soft texture and vibrant freshness on the finish. The Calalenta Rosato is 100% Merlot and shows fresh aromas of strawberries and pink grapefruit with a refreshing acidity. Grapes for both wines hail from west and southwest-facing vineyards around the town of Ortona, on the Adriatic coast in Abruzzo, planted on calcareous clay soils.

The west and south/west facing vineyards are situated around the town of Ortona, on the Adriatic coast in Abruzzo. The vines are planted on calcareous clay soils of a medium texture and trained on a pergola system. Pecorino is a fairly rare variety, with only around 300 hectares planted in the Abruzzo and Marche regions. Its name derives from the fact that a bunch of Pecorino grapes was traditionally considered to have a similar shape to a sheep's head.

The 2023 vintage was a warm harvest with very little rain. This led to an almost 50% reduction in quantity. Careful work in the vineyard, and the decision to bring harvest forward resulted in excellent quality grapes, despite the low yields.

Upon arrival at the winery the grapes were destemmed and gently crushed. Cooling was carried out in only a few seconds down to -1°C in an inert atmosphere. Static clarification of the must took place, followed by fermentation at 12°C in order to preserve the character of the fruit. 80% of the juice was fermented in stainless-steel tanks, while 20% was fermented in 40-hectolitre oak barrels.

Lively straw yellow in colour with green hues, this Pecorino displays delightful aromas of white stone fruit and pears on the nose, with hints of balsamic. On the palate, it shows excellent intensity and concentration, with a round body. It is wonderfully balanced, with both a soft texture and vibrant freshness on the finish.