2020 Tenuta Terraviva, Abruzzo Pecorino DOC, White Wine, Italy.
This light gold 100% organically farmed Pecorino, a native grape variety from the Northern part of Abruzzo, is dusty bone dry authentically Italian white with bright layers of lemon/lime, white peach and green apple fruits, along with tangy herbs, wet stones and bitter almonds, in a lighter framed and racy wine. Terraviva fermented and aged this Pecorino exclusively in stainless steel tank with native yeasts employed. This 2020 vintage is still remarkably fresh with very delicate citrusy aromatics and plenty of mouth-watering zingy acidity, making it best with steamed clams and or soft farm cheeses. This is a tartly retrained and salty terroir driven white wine, with subtle fruit, that shows off a very old school personality that gets more vinous with air, but stays vibrant and zippy throughout.
Imported by Lucidity Wine Merchants, Terraviva, a certified organic and biodynamic farm near Teramo, Abruzzo, is a small family run winery that shoots for authentic character in its collection of wines. The Terraviva estate vines, according to the winery and Lucidity, benefit from both the cold winds blowing down from the Gran Sasso mountains and the mitigating effects of the Adriatic Sea, which is not far away. The winemaking is low-intervention and clean in style, and made just with the mentioned estate grown organic & biodynamic grapes and natural yeasts. Only minimal amounts of sulfites are used at bottling, with the winery adding that all of their vineyard plots are harvested separately, by hand, producing wines of a crisp, with pure varietal character, vibrant freshness and balance. The Terraviva wines, both this Pecorino d’Abruzzo and the Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, which sees a bit of concrete, I tried are nicely made and are good values.
($20 Est.) 88 Points, grapelive