The Wine Of The Sheep: Pecorino

Italy's Abruzzo region is known mainly for sheep and agriculture.  It is only fitting they would have a grape that marries both.  Pecorino is "the grape of the sheep."  The name of the Umani Rochi wine made from that grape, Vellodoro, means roughly the Golden Fleece sought in myth by the Argonauts.

Inside Abruzzo, nestled in the foothills and bathing in the waves of the Adriatic Sea, is the Terra di Chieti IGT.  White wines are the specialty of the region and Pecorino is the primary grape there, although Umani Ronchi grows largely Montepulciano in the deep, sandy clay soil of their Abruzzo vineyards. 

Umani Ronchi Terra di Chieti Pecorino Vellodoro 2018

The wine - a 100% Pecorino varietal showing the grape’s characteristic aromatics and high acidity - was vinified in stainless steel tanks and did not undergo malolactic fermentation, although it did rest on its lees for four months.  That contact with the spent yeast cells is what gives Vellodoro its weight.  Alcohol stays at 12.5% abv and it sells online for about $14.

This wine of the Pecorino grape displays a light floral note on the nose, but the show is its minerality.  Citrus aromas even take a back seat to the smell of wet driveway.  On the palate, lemon, lime and almonds play a bigger role amidst a ripping acidity.  Enjoy in the wintertime, but stick a bottle aside for when warm-weather foods take over.  

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Don't Be Sheepish Abut Pecorino

A ferzo is a patch of fabric stitched together with others to form a sail or a flag, and it's the central idea behind Ferzo's patchwork of vineyards.  Ferzo says their wines grow out of  "small-scale, highly selected viticultural operations in the skillful hands of local vintners."  The grapes come from Abruzzo, in the broad province of Chieti.

The Winebow Group explains, "the vineyards that source Ferzo Terre di Chieti Pecorino are found in the rolling hills that stretch between the Adriatic Sea in the East to the Appenine Mountains in the West.  The relationship between mountains and sea is always felt in this part of Italy as temperature variations yield a constant breeze known here as the "brezza di terra".

The Pecorino grape is named for sheep, which apparently like munching on this particular fruit. The varietal wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel, getting three months in the tank and one in the bottle.  The alcohol clocks in at 13% abv and it retails for $26.

The nose comes on with a healthy whiff of lanolin and citrus, salinity on the side.  It's a savory sniff, with the ocean taking the forefront while the fruit plays a lesser role.  On the palate, the salty feel stays the course, while apricot, lemon and orange come through on a wave of nuttiness.  The wine finishes tart and refreshing.

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