Gran Sasso, `Alta Quota` Pecorino 2020 75cl

PRODUCER
Valentino Sciotti is involved with a number of wineries in Puglia, Campania (he is the man behind Vesevo) and his native Abruzzi. The Gran Sasso wines are made by winemakers Francesco De Santis and young winemaker Rino Santeusanio and display a freshness and directness of fruit that sets them apart from other wines from this area.

VINEYARDS

Pecorino is an indigenous grape variety planted almost exclusively in the Abruzzo and Le Marche regions.The 200 hectares vineyards are situated on calcareous clay soils with some layers of limestone. They are located at approximately 150 metres above sea level around the town of Orsogna close to the Majella Mountains in Abruzzo.The vines are between 15 and 20 years old and are trained with the pergola system.

VINTAGE

The 2020 vintage began with a mild winter and spring with good rainfall and below-average temperatures. Late summer and early autumn were both warm and dry, and harvest took place under idyllic conditions.The weather allowed to harvest later and obtain a natural drying and a higher concentration of the grapes that were healthy and reached a perfect level of ripening.

VINIFICATION

Grapes were carefully hand-picked and selected in the vineyards. At the winery grapes were gently crushed and cooled in order to help settling with skin-contact for about 12 hours at 3°C. Then, approximately 80% of the must was fermented into temperature controlled stainless steel tanks at 12°C and the remaining 20% in 40HL oak barrels.The wine remained in stainless steel tanks at a temperature of about 10°C to maintain its aromas before bottling.

TASTING NOTES

This wine is straw yellow in colour with greenish highlights. It is lightly spiced on the nose from the partial oak ageing which gives way to a fine, floral and ripe citrus fruit character on the palate. On the palate, the wine has good length with ripe pear characters continuing through to the finish.