Rocco Pasetti 2019 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
- Buy 6 for £11.39 each and save 5%
- Buy 12 for £11.03 each and save 8%
Montepulciano is one of Italy's great value reds, particularly when sourced from top producers such as Rocco Pasetti. Aromas of black cherry, forest fruits, ripe black plums with a vibrant streak of freshness and liveliness. Reasonably full bodied but this is not a heavy wine: deliciously light on its feet, which shows expert winemaking and excellent quality grapes.
The Wine Region
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is located in southern central Italy between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennines. It has a landscape of mountains and beautiful coastlines with rolling hills of vineyards, olive groves and cereal crops. In terms of wines, this region is home to some of the country's best known and best value wines, particularly Montepulciano. In recent years there has been much attention given to the white wines of the region too, mostly for the fragrant and textured wines made from the Pecorino variety, but also those from Trebbiano Abruzzese. This region is home to two of Italy's legendary producers: Edouardo Valentini and Emidio Pepe whose wines are highly sought-after all over the world, but here you can also find one of Noble Grape's favourite value-for-money producers, Rocco Pasetti, who makes simply wonderful wines at everyday prices.
The Producer
Rocco Pasetti
We are long term fans of the wines of the talented winemaker Rocco Pasetti and his son Franco. Rocco is the former winemaker at the Roxan co-operative in Rosciano - the one where Edoardo Valentini, the South of Italy's most revered wine producer, used to send the grapes he deemed not worthy of his exacting quality, as he was choosy about who turned these grapes into wine. It is because of this connection that we first encountered Rocco's talents. In the early 2000s Rocco created his own winery in Collecorvino located between the Gran Sasso mountain, the highest peak in the Apennines, and the Adriatic Sea. The vineyards are at around 250 metres elevation and planted on limestone/clay soils, perfect for the ripening of these varieties.
The speciality here, of course, is Montepulciano, one of Italy's most popular wines, perfect for everyday drinking, but Rocco turns it into a stylish, crisp red with great body and lovely black cherry fruit. Pecorino is becoming increasingly popular, so much so that it almost now an essential component of any competent restaurateur's wine list, and it's easy to see why for it's gently fruity palate of lime and white currant but also it has great body and always very good acidity.