Colline Teramane and Nicodemi wines

This year’s first preview tasting organized by the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Colline Teramane producers’ association offered an opportunity to visit the wine estate of the Nicodemi siblings.

This year, more precisely last January, Consorzio di Tutela Vini Colline Teramane producers’ association organized its first preview tasting.

Colle Teramane was created in the province of Teramo, in 2003 and was the first and for a long time the only DOCG appellation in the region of Abruzzo. Its aim was to circumscribe and enhance the value of an important subzone for the production of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, where today they produce over half a million bottles.

The DOC version of this wine can be produced almost anywhere in the region with yields of 14 metric tons per hectare and the wine can even be bottled away from where it was made. Colline Teramane wine, on the other hand, can only come from a single province with a yield of 9.5 MT and no more than 3kg per vine. This subzone has a well-defined pedoclimate and the area is circumscribed by natural borders.

The DOCG appellation is protected towards the hinterland by the Gran Sasso mountain and the vines are on the foothills at an altitude of 300m above sea level and situated in a natural amphitheater that overlooks a valley created by rivers that run from the mountains to the Adriatic Sea. The sea, only a few kilometers away as the crow flies, influences the climate as much as the mountains do and ensures sharp temperatures differences between summer and winter as well as between night and day.

The soils are moraine, sandy and clay, as can be expected in an area with rivers. The tendone vine-training method is still the most popular, typical and traditional as well as functional because the leaves shade the grapes during hot years. Other methods used include Guyot and pruned-spur cordon-trained. Montepulciano remains the principle grape and most of the wines are single-varietal even if regulations allow for an addition of up to 30% of Sangiovese.

The consortium, which has a total of 1,500 square kilometers of land and 40 producer members, is headed by Enrico Cerulli, of the Cerulli Spinozzi winery. This group of winemakers appears united and determined to see their appellation expand and become known. In order to facilitate this, there is a proposal, in the final stages of approval, to add another version alongside the current Colline Teramane DOCG (a minimum one year aging in the cellar) and Colline Teramane DOCG Riserva (there years in the cellar). The third version would be halfway between the two and be a Superiore. Although this version in theory already exists, and this year would be a 2017, the Superiore term will not be on the label until vintage 2020 or ’21.

The reasoning behind this is to diversify the occasions to drink the wine. By reducing the time the wine spends in the cellar, compared to a reserve, the wine can reach the market earlier and still benefit from a greater complexity compared to the younger wine. Thus it will be a red wine not only for special occasions but also for every day consumption or as an alternative for palates less accustom to so much complexity and concentration.

Aside from tasting Colline Teramane consortium wines from vintages 2018 and 2017, a preview of 2016 Riserva and Riserva 2015 and Riserva 2014, we also had occasion to visit an estate for a “hands-on” encounter with the territory.

I went to the estate of siblings Elena and Alessandro Nicodemi, which carries the family name. The estate has one, single vineyard where they cultivate Montepulciano and Trebbiano. The pergola abruzzese vine-training method is used for both the red and white varietals that grow in a natural and sloped amphitheater vineyard. The vines benefit from a constant and light breeze and are “kissed” by the sun almost until sunset, exalting all the hues of brown and green that compose the landscape and can be found on the wine labels. Aside from the vines, the hill is also home to a significant number of olive trees.

Although the Nicodemi estate remains very traditional, they do not shy from experimentation, as in the case of using a new pergola/tendone vine training method for the Trebbiano. The vines in this case are slightly lower and the vines grow on vertical guides. By not growing parallel to the ground, no vine touches the other and a corridor of light and air is created that make the grapes healthier. There have also been experiments in the winery, always with the Trebbiano, with the wine fermenting and maturing in cocciopesto earthenware vats, with the clay not fired but dried in the sun for 30 days. The vats are not glass-lined and preserve the wine well, allowing it to mature in a slow and natural way.

Annual production of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Cocciopesto is some 1,200 bottles while 6,000 bottles of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Superiore Notàri are produced. Since we have already reviewed and evaluated this estate’s red wines, also in our 2020 Essential Guide to Italian Wine, here we will look at their whites.

Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Cocciopesto 2017 Nicodemi

87/100 - € 18

Made from Trebbiano grapes that are fermented, macerated and then matured in cocciopesto vats. The wine has an intense yellow color with some bolder reflections and a bouquet of aromatic herbs, wild mint, dandelion and chamomile. The mouthfeel is full and flavorful and the persistence makes it evermore wrapping and dense with an aftertaste that recalls toasted spice.

Bottles produced: 1,200.

Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Superiore Notàri 2017 Nicodemi

88/100 - € 15

Made in stainless steel from only Trebbiano grapes. An intense, yellow color with some gold reflections. The aroma has scents of apricot followed by notes of green olives and brine that enliven the bouquet along with a fresh sensation of wild mint. The mouthfeel is vertical and savory with a nice persistence. A simple and pleasing drop.

Bottles produced: 6,000.

Related Products