Gran Sasso, `Alta Quota` Pecorino has a lightly spiced 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.

About the 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.

Vineyard and Winery

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.

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.