Talamonti makes this in the hills above the Adriatic, in Abruzzo, where Montepulciano has grown for centuries and Merlot arrived to soften it. The two are blended here under the Colline Pescaresi appellation, a small DOC on the Pescara hills, and the 2019 vintage gave them a warm, even year to work with.
- Montepulciano and Merlot, blended.
- Colline Pescaresi, Abruzzo, central Italy.
- 2019, a warm and well-regarded year.
- Full body, medium tannin, medium acidity.
- 14% alcohol, dry.
How it is made
Montepulciano brings the structure and the dark fruit; Merlot fills in the middle and rounds the edges. Colline Pescaresi is a young appellation by Italian standards, carved out of the Pescara hills in the 1970s, and it exists largely to give the region's Montepulciano-based wines a name of their own.
How it tastes
Black cherry and plum lead, with mocha and dried herbs behind them. The tannins are firm but already smoothed out, and the finish stays dry rather than sweet. Full in the mouth without being heavy.
Where it comes from
Abruzzo sits between the Apennines and the Adriatic, and Montepulciano is its signature red grape, grown widely across the region but rarely blended outside it. The Colline Pescaresi zone runs inland from Pescara, where the hills rise quickly from the coast.
Good to know
Montepulciano the grape and Montepulciano the Tuscan town are unrelated, a coincidence of naming that trips up almost everyone at least once. The grape is Abruzzo's own, and it is the second most planted red variety in Italy.
Contains alcohol.
