Each Saturday, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Everyday Italian Wine’ for you to try at home - or enjoy on your Abruzzo vacation !

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. Cantina Tollo 'Colle Secco'. 2007
Ask for the 'vino bianco della casa' anywhere in Abruzzo and you'll be given Trebbiano. And as an aperitif, or to go with a plate of antipasti or locally-caught fish, or to simply just quench your thirst on a hot summer day, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better, or better-value,  everyday Italian white wine.

And not just in Abruzzo either. Trebbiano's a key grape in the production of those two other great Italian whites Orvieto and Soave. And balsamic vinegar ! In France, in its alter ego guise of Ugni Blanc, it's the grape of cognac and armagnac. In fact, it's reckoned by some to be the most widely-grown white wine grape in the world. And therein lies a bit of a problem. Familiarity breeds contempt. One celebrated wine guru has even gone as far as saying that planting Trebbiano is 'a waste of good vineyard space'. 

Now, it's true enough, as with any wine, that some Trebbiano is dreadful (and a waste of good vineyard space); some is sensational (and sensationally-priced); most is perfectly good wine for everyday drinking. It doesn't aspire to great heights - but neither does it often disappoint. But lurking among these humble everyday bottles are a few absolute gems. At unsensational prices. And the idea behind these little weekly jaunts is to help steer you in their direction.

The direction this week is the town of Tollo, a little inland from Ortona on Abruzzo's Adriatic coast, and the home of Cantina Tollo - named 'Italy's Wine Producer of the Year, 2008' by the beguilingly-named L'Almanacco del Bere Bene - or 'Good Drinking Guide'.

The 'Colle Secco' range is a better-than-average introduction to the Cantina Tollo catalogue. Here's what the magisterial and brick-sized 'Italian Wines 2007' had to say:

"The Colle Secco line merits positive comment. This (is) a formidable range…the quality is undeniably high and these are delicious wines at very affordable prices"

'Italian Wines' then went on to judge the Colle Secco Trebbiano 'very good to excellent in its category'. So the experts like it. But what about you and me ?  This'll be an adventure for all of us because it'll be the first bottle of the 2007 Colle Secco Trebb I've actually tried.

Well…I'm smiling and I think you will too after your first taste. My instant impression was that the labelling was wrong and that this wasn't Trebbiano - but a rather classy bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

The colour is the palest of pale golds, with the slightest tinge of green. The bouquet conjours up greengages and new-mown grass and when you take a sip - OK, mouthful - there's an eye-popping pure, fruity palate which mingles that greengage with hints of lychee, gooseberry and mango that intially brought a SauvBlanc to mind. But then the Trebbiano grape asserts itself with that little extra cut of dryness and a zingy acidity in the finish that's wonderfully refreshing. Perhaps the dense concentration of flavours in this wine is due to the unusually hot, dry 2007 Abruzzo summer, but whatever the reason, the result is simply incredible.

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
• Vintage: 2007
• Producer: Cantina Tollo. 'Colle Secco' range
• Designation: DOC
• Grape: 100% Trebbiano
• Strength: 13% vol
• Closure: Cork
• This bottle cost: €3.66

Cantina Tollo
The award of 'Wine Producer of the Year 2008' from one of Italy's top-flight consumer publications gives national - and international - recognition to one of the country's finest local producers. Sourcing grapes from over a thousand small growers around its base in Tollo, the Cantina produces an astonishingly consistent and varied output, mainly centred on the Montepulciano and Trebbiano grapes, but with sidelines in Pecorino and Chardonnay (including the very good 'Aldiano' barrel-aged Chardonnay/Trebbiano blend). If you come across it, don't miss the extraordinary 'Passito' 100% Muscat dessert wine either. At the top of the range, the 'Cagiolo' Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, with 18-months in the barrel, holds its own with the very best Italy can offer.

If you like Italian wine, why not check out last week's 'Everyday Italian Wine' - and bookmark this site for future weekly posts !

(Click on pictures in text for larger images)

Next week: Cannonau di Sardegna 2005. The best red from a top producer in Sardinia for you to try at home - or on your Abruzzo vacation !

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 5:27 am and is filed under David's 'Everyday Italian Wine', Eating and Drinking, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.