Behind the Cork™ - White Wines from Masciarelli Winery in Abruzzo

Masciarelli (Mass-shee-ah-RELL-ee) Winery is located in the Abruzzo region of Italy on the eastern coast, just east of Rome on the Adriatic Sea. It was established in 1981 from the entrepreneurial intuition of Gianni Masciarelli. Today, Miriam Masciarelli (Gianni’s daughter) works with her mother, Marina Cvetić Masciarelli, to run this fabulous family winery that now has 22 labels and seven product lines all sourced from 60 vineyards in all four provinces of Abruzzo. Two of the product lines featured here are Villa Gemma, honoring the modest family home where Gianni was born, and the Marina Cvetic line that Gianni named for his wife.

2022 Villa Gemma Abruzzo Bianco ($24)

This wine is produced from a blend of 50% Trebbiano Abruzzese, 30% Pecorino, and 20% Cococciola from four vineyards. Trebbiano Abruzzese delivers wines that can be simultaneously floral and fruity. Native Cococciola adds lime-like acidity and herbal notes, while Pecorino adds minerality and a fruit/floral balance.

Fermentation of the various grape varieties was conducted separately in low-temperature stainless steel tanks, followed by blending and bottling.

This Villa Gemma Abruzzo Bianco is pale straw in color. On the nose it nice aromas of citrus and pineapple with subtle herbal hints. On the palate, this medium-light-bodied wine is bright, with green apple flavors, good acidity and mineral notes.

2020 Marina Cvetic Trebbiano d’ Abruzzo Reserva ($60)

This wine is produced from 100% Trebbiano Abruzzese from two vineyards.

Fermentation took place in French oak barrels, both initial and malolactic conversion. After aging 12 months on lees, in new French barrels, the wine spent 12 months in the bottle before distribution. 

This Marina Cvetic Trebbiano d’ Abruzzo Reserva is pale gold in color with greenish highlights. On the nose it has very delicate fruit aromas and herbal hints along with notes from the oak influence. On the palate, this medium-light bodied wine has flavors of green apple and lemon along with oaky notes and yeast from the aging on lees. It finishes soft and smooth.

Both of these white wines from Masciarelli winery are delicious examples of the great wines coming from the Abruzzo region of Italy and featured as the Behind the Cork™ Wines of the Week. Cheers!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received these samples at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Media Samples Provided by Masciarelli Winery

Behind the Cork™ - Wine of the Week

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2017 Ferzo Pecorino Terre di Chieti ($26)

This wine from Ferzo is 100% Pecorino that is grown in the foothills of central Italy’s Abruzzo region in the Terre di Chieti IGT. The Indicazione Geografica Tipica is a relatively new wine classification introduced in 1992 as part of a general reorganization of the D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) Italian wine law.

If you are not familiar with this grape it may be because by the mid-20th Century, it was thought to be extinct. That is, until the 1980s, when a local Italian producer began researching native varieties in an overgrown vineyard. Having been ‘rediscovered', cuttings of Pecorino were taken and propagated, and are now once again growing enough grapes to make some very good wine.

This Pecorino from Ferzo has a wonderful sweet floral bouquet to go along with tropical fruit aromas. Flavors of green apple and pear go along with a waxy mouth-feel that leads to mouthwatering acidity on the finish.

All of these amazing flavors are preserved through cold-soaking on the skins for seven hours then undergoing 10-12 days of fermentation in stainless steel tanks. It is then aged three months in stainless steel tanks before bottling.

This is a really nice, crisp, refreshing wine that is very enjoyable to drink. If you haven’t ever heard of Pecorino or tried it, you need to find this one and give it a try. It’s really good and another great value featured here as a Behind the Cork™ - Wine of the Week. Enjoy!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this wine at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Donna White of Donna White Communications