Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2024

A great all rounder, opens up beautifully with notes of black cherries, red plum, black pepper, and spice. Great density and expression on the palate.

Excellent with pork, poultry, fish, shellfish, pasta in white sauce, cheese, and vegetarian dishes.

Best served at 15 – 18°C.

The history of the Barba family traces the long history. The Barba family comes from afar and carries with it the legacy of ancient traditions. The first traces date back to 15th century Naples, where we find our ancestor Francesco Barba, abbot and canon under Pope Sixtus IV.

It is precisely on the hilly ridges of the Vomano river, between the Teramo municipalities of Cellino Attanasio, Atri, Pineto and Roseto, that the 68 hectare Barba farm is located. The summer offers long sunny days alternated with cool nights, the winter is mitigated by the influence of the nearby Adriatic Sea, with an average annual temperature of 12-16°C, as well as good rainfall and ventilation. Equally peculiar is the soil of the Vomano alluvial plain, characterised by Plio-Pleistocene deposits that, between the end of the Tertiary and the beginning of the Quaternary, filled the Periadriatic basin through a marine sedimentary cycle. The result was an undulating landscape with broad, almost flat rises and rounded slopes, often interrupted by steep slopes due to erosion, the gullies. The soil thus created has an arenaceous-clayey structure, with varying thickness depending on slope and exposure, and a medium-low water retention.

• Organic - Practising (Uncertified)

Wine&Earth Full Sustainability Review Pending.

Fratelli Barba is a multi-generation project dating back to 15th century. The family own 684 hectares in total, with mixed use of the land across their estate. 574 hectares are used for livestock dairy production, green and dry fodder and cereals for the production of concentrated flours. They have 68 hectares of vineyards and 9 hectares of olive groves. Finally, almost 5% of the land, 33 hectares, is reserved as natural woodland, helping with local biodiversity.

The cow breeding farm that is inspired by the principles of the Stalla Etica®, i.e. breeding the animals with the full right to lead a life as similar as they would in nature. The cows can freely access large outdoor areas, rest on a large surface of over 20 m 2 per animal of soft compost and have spontaneous and unrestricted access to the milking robots. They are all guaranteed healthy and plentiful food, water to drink, shelter from the elements, showers and fans for the summer and veterinary care when needed. A circular economy is practised on the Tenuta Barba farm because the animals are served food that to a large extent is not suitable for human consumption, and the manure is used in the fields to feed the plants so that the use of chemical fertilisers is reduced to an absolute minimum.

Since 2007, the estate has been producing renewable energy from photovoltaic systems, to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Today, the solar PV fields extend over about 6 hectares of land and cover the rooves of the wine and livestock farms.

Red | Still | 75cl | 12.5% ABC