Valentini Trebbiano DÁbbruzo
Trebbiano isn’t renowned for producing wine epiphanies and high-fives between c0nsenting wine geeks….especially one from a fairly large DOC such as Abruzzo…well raise your hand in the air brothers and sisters and give me some skin….I’ve found one.
From all acounts Eduardo Valentini was a cantankerous old cat….secretive and wizened like a rustic Italian Catweazle…if you were lucky enough to gain an audience with the “Lord of Vines” he’d sullenly refuse to talk about his wines and wine-making, discussing only his vineyards, then he’d most likely boot you out the door, refusing to sell you any wines in the process…..got to admire the brother.
The revered Eduardo Valentini sadly passed away in 2006 and his son Francesco has taken over the reins of the family operation which has been producing wines since the mid-1600′s in the same location. From all reports, Francesco is more approachable than his old man but no less secretive and it really makes you wonder what they do differently at Valentini when so many of their neighboring producers seem to underachieve with the variety.
The Trebianno clone is known locally as Bombino Bianco, though I was chatting to Nicolas Belfrage MW about the producer when he last visited Australia and he seemed to think it was Trebbiano Toscano….regardless…in France you will know the variety better as Ugni Blanc. Smoke & mirrors aside we do know that Eduardo only utilised the finest 5% of his crop for the wine…the rest was flogged of to the local cantina sociale. The wines were always and are still produced very traditionally and a usually released at around 5 years of age….which funnily enough is around the time that most other Trebbiano’s fall flat on their arse.
It’s not just the whites that rock out….Valentini also produce a Montepulciano DÁbruzzo that is stunning….I’ve had the pleasure of trying only the one vintage, the 1978, twice and it was an enchanting wine…but we’ll do a note on that another day.
It’s a vivid, pale gold in colour, slightlt turbid and mysterious. It sports a cool, almost menthol tinged nose which cascades into layers of pithy grapefuit, dried honey, nettles, broth, candle wax, herbs, struck match, almonds and nougart with wafts of gingerbread, butterscotch and stone…..there is a slight volatile edge to the nose also, nothing of concern just a touch of lift.
The palate is lean and linear….focused pithy citrus fruits, nettle, butterscotch, struck flint, petrichor, herbs and roasted nuts with hints of meal and gun smoke. Immensly concentrated like all the aromas and flavours have been compressed into a singularity in a wine geek big bang theory. Amazing peircing, laser-like acid line and a wafting vapour tral of flint, citrus and meal on the finish….a truly captivating wine.
Price: $120-ish …rare as rocking horse poo though, I believe only two vintages made it in to Australia?
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 12.5%
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Abruzzo
