Why it tastes like this
Why does Trebbiano d’Abruzzo taste like that?
Mostly simple everyday white, but capable of remarkable depth from the small number of producers using the true Trebbiano Abruzzese.
These are the contributors WineHQ can name for Trebbiano d’Abruzzo as a category. Every one is a tendency, a convention or a mechanism, and each carries a label saying which. None of it describes how a particular producer made a particular bottle — real practice varies enormously, and a causal account that read as a recipe would be false for a great many of the wines it covers.
The grape
What does the variety bring before anyone does anything to it?
Trebbiano Abruzzese
TendencyCharacteristically very low tannin and medium-plus acidity. Commonly associated with lemon, almond, herbs, beeswax.
Not claiming: That every wine from this variety shows these characteristics. This is the range across the category, and site and winemaking move wines within and beyond it.
Trebbiano Toscano
TendencyCharacteristically very low tannin, medium-plus acidity and light-medium body. Commonly associated with lemon, green apple, neutral.
Not claiming: That every wine from this variety shows these characteristics. This is the range across the category, and site and winemaking move wines within and beyond it.
Place and climate
What did the growing season do to the fruit?
Abruzzo: mediterranean influence
AssociationA Mediterranean pattern of wet winters and dry summers is associated with reliable ripening and with mild late-season water stress, which restricts berry size and raises the ratio of skin to juice.
Varies: Where the dry season is severe or lengthening, the same pattern produces damaging rather than beneficial stress, and irrigation becomes necessary rather than optional.
Not claiming: That water stress is beneficial as such. Mild stress helps; severe stress halts ripening.
Winemaking
What decisions were taken between the vineyard and the bottle?
Lees ageing and bâtonnage
MechanismAutolysis of spent yeast releases mannoproteins and other compounds that contribute texture and weight, and savoury bready characters.
Varies: Effect scales with time and is increased by stirring the lees.
Not claiming: That a bready or brioche character proves long lees ageing. Other routes to similar descriptors exist.
Stainless steel and inert vessels
ConventionFermenting in a vessel that contributes nothing, to preserve fruit and freshness.
Not claiming: That every producer of this style uses this method, or that using it is required.
Age
What changes after the wine is bottled?
Development in bottle
TendencyEveryday bottlings are for the first year or two. The small number of producers working with true Trebbiano Abruzzese make wines that are genuinely long-lived, which is why the appellation has a reputation out of proportion to most of what carries its name.
Not claiming: That a wine of this style will develop these characters. Ageing potential varies by producer, vintage and storage, and most wine is better young.
Follow it up
Style
Trebbiano d’Abruzzo
The taste profile, food matches, serving guidance and what to try next.
Science
Why wine is like this
The mechanisms behind each contributor above, explained at the scope they have been established.
Myths
What people get wrong
Several of the explanations usually given for wines like this do not survive checking.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) — Julius Kühn-Institut, Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof
- Italian DOP and IGP wine register — Ministero dell’agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF)
- UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology — University of California, Davis
- INRAE — French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment — INRAE
- The Australian Wine Research Institute — AWRI
- Comité Champagne — Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust