AN ANCIENT VARIETY, A MODERN WINE

Wine of the month
Citra • Terre di Chieti IGT Pecorino “Niro” 2010
$13
An ancient variety,
a modern wine
Citra continues to be committed to local
Abruzzan varieties like pecorino, a grape that
goes into a very successful monovarietal wine
T
he Citra consortium
of cooperatives was
named for the Latin
name of this part of
Abruzzo, Aprutium Citra. The choice underlines the bond that ties
Citra to its territory, the
gentle hill country of
Chieti, and to the native
vine types that have
been grown here for
centuries. The 5,000
member growers are
kept on message by a
well-organized team of
agronomists and enologists based at the winery in Ortona. This major operation turns out
more than 18 million
bottles a year, 90% of
which are obtained from
native Abruzzo grapes.
Trebbiano
d’Abruzzo
and montepulciano top
the list, having reigned
supreme here even
4 Il mio vino March 2012
when phylloxera was
devastating vineyards
all over late 19th-century Europe and growers
were grubbing up native
vines in favor of international varieties.
The return
of PECORINO
Other native varieties
from the region – such
as pecorino, passerina
and cococciola, all
white-skinned – were
forgotten for much of
the 20th century. Then
in the late 1990s, Abruzzan producers, with Citra prominent, rediscovered pecorino, an
ancient variety that has
earned a place in the
front rank of new-wave
Abruzzan wine and one
that Citra interprets in
various labels, including
the excellent “Niro.”
Wine of the month
the winery
Citra, a consortium of cooperative wineries that
themselves group individual producers, is based
at Ortona in the province of Chieti. Members
farm more than 8,000 hillside hectares scattered all over the province, where they grow international varieties, including merlot, cabernet
sauvignon, chardonnay and pinot, as well as Citra’s strong suit, native Abruzzan montepulciano, trebbiano, pecorino, cococciola and passerina vines. The grapes for “Niro” come from the
clayey hills at Crecchio, Orsogna and Lanciano.
i
info:
CITRA
contact:
[email protected]
www.citra.it
Getting there!
Google map
coordinates
Citra-managed vineyards extend over
the hill country in the province of Chieti,
from the Majella massif to the coast.
did you know?
Pecorino is a native
white variety from
Abruzzo. Recently
rediscovered and
much appreciated by
local producers,
pecorino gives
savory, fragrant
wines brimming with
tropical fruits and
sage-like aromatics.
In a nutshell
Match with...
•White meats
•Fish cooked
in any style
•Fresh
cheeses such
as mozzarella
or crescenza
Glass
Tulip,
five cm at rim
Appearance
Pale yellow with
greenish tinges
Nose
Fresh pineapple-led
tropical fruits, sage,
acacia blossom
Palate
Full-bodied with good
structure, lingering,
mineral notes
March 2012 Il mio vino
5