Italy · Abruzzo — Region-wide

Azienda Agricola Ciavolich

Abruzzese estate founded in 1853, now led by Chiara Ciavolich; native varieties, amphora-aged whites, and Montepulciano grown near a natural lake in Pianella.

The producer

Ciavolich is one of Abruzzo's oldest family estates, tracing its winemaking to 1853 but its presence in the region to around 1560, when the family arrived from Bulgaria and settled in Miglianico. The estate is now shaped by Chiara Ciavolich, who took the reins at twenty-six after leaving a law degree, and has built the range around native Abruzzese varieties and a winemaking philosophy that keeps all wines below 14% alcohol. The cellar uses stainless steel, concrete, Slavonian oak, and terracotta amphorae, chosen differently for each wine.

The core grapes are Montepulciano and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, with Pecorino, Passerina, and Cococciola also in the ground across 35 to 40 hectares in Loreto Aprutino and Pianella, province of Pescara. The Pianella Montepulciano parcels sit near a natural lake whose water table keeps vine roots moist through dry summers, holding aromatic freshness in the fruit. The entry Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is the volume anchor of the range; Fosso Cancelli Trebbiano and Divus Montepulciano are the serious tier.

Known for

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo (Fosso Cancelli), Pecorino (Aries)

Notable facts

The story

The Cellar Below the Occupation

In autumn 1943, just after the harvest came in from the Miglianico parcels, German troops retreating through the town requisitioned the upper floors of the Ciavolich family residence. The winery Francesco Ciavolich had built across the road in 1853 sat half-underground in the hillside, and the family moved into it. They lived in the cellars, among the barrels of that year's harvest, while the German command occupied the floors above their home. The occupation lasted into the winter. When the troops finally moved on, the family came back upstairs. The underground winery had sheltered the family and the wine both, and it still stands in Miglianico today.

From the atlas

Azienda Agricola Ciavolich

At A Glance

Producer: Azienda Agricola Ciavolich Country: Italy Region: Abruzzo Villages: Loreto Aprutino and Pianella, province of Pescara Core Grapes: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, Pecorino Estate Size: 35 to 40 hectares Founded: 1853 Current Leadership: Chiara Ciavolich and Gianluca, since 2004

The Producer

When Chiara Ciavolich took over the family estate in 2004 at twenty-six, she left a law degree behind and inherited a winery that had already survived wool merchants, wars, and centuries of Abruzzese hill farming. The estate had been in the family since around 1560 and formally established as a working winery in 1853. What she inherited was a physical anchor: old underground cellars in Miglianico, parcels split between the hill towns of Loreto Aprutino and Pianella in the province of Pescara, and a range built on the native grapes that Abruzzo has grown for generations.

The grapes at the centre are Montepulciano and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, with Pecorino, Passerina, and Cococciola also in the ground. Chiara and her husband Gianluca farm 35 to 40 hectares across the two sites and produce around 200,000 bottles annually. The production philosophy is direct: keep alcohol moderate, let native variety character carry the wine, and choose the fermentation vessel by what each grape needs rather than by formula.

Place

Abruzzo runs down the central spine of Italy, where the Apennines drop toward the Adriatic coast. The province of Pescara sits in the middle of that corridor, and the hill towns of Loreto Aprutino and Pianella are inland farming country at moderate altitude, with warm summers tempered by mountain air and cooler nights that slow ripening and hold acidity in the grapes.

The Pianella parcels planted to Montepulciano have an unusual local advantage: proximity to a natural lake whose water table keeps vine roots moist through dry summer months. Vines under heat stress concentrate sugar at the cost of aromatic freshness. The lake moisture holds that stress back, so the Pianella Montepulciano ripens more evenly and holds the red-fruit character the grape carries when it is not pushed too hard by drought.

The Montepulciano d'Abruzzo appellation covers the grape across much of the region. The Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOP label requires the native Trebbiano d'Abruzzo variety, distinct from the more widely planted Trebbiano Toscano. The Pecorino and Cococciola wines carry IGP status.

Soil And Site

The packet does not specify soil type for the Loreto Aprutino or Pianella parcels. What the packet records is the vine age and site character: old vines planted in 1987 at Pianella for the Divus Montepulciano, the lake proximity that moderates dry-season stress on those parcels, and a split between traditional pergola abruzzese training on older plots and guyot on newer ones. Pergola abruzzese holds the canopy high and wide, shading the fruit from the harshest afternoon sun, which matters in an inland Abruzzese summer. Guyot concentrates the vine's energy more directly into fewer clusters.

Story

The Ciavolich family arrived in Miglianico around 1560, wool merchants who had come from Bulgaria and settled in Abruzzo. They stayed. Nearly three centuries later, in 1853, Francesco Ciavolich built a winery directly opposite the family residence, half-underground in the hill. That building still stands and still holds wine.

In the 1960s, the family inherited around fifty hectares in Loreto Aprutino from the estate of Donna Ernestina, shifting the operational centre of gravity from Miglianico toward Pescara province. The current 35 to 40 hectares in active production come from that inheritance, with Pianella added as a second site.

Chiara's arrival in 2004 was the moment the estate changed scale and direction. She converted the estate to modern viticulture, introduced rigorous vineyard selection, and set a clear production target: no wine above 14% alcohol. Production grew from 5,000 bottles to 60,000 by 2009, and kept climbing. The philosophy behind that expansion was not volume for its own sake but a clear argument about what Abruzzese native varieties express when they are not pushed to overripeness.

Vineyards And Cellar

The older parcels run on pergola abruzzese, the traditional Abruzzese vine training system that spreads the canopy horizontally over a frame, keeping grapes shaded and slowing ripening. Newer parcels use guyot, which concentrates the vine's output into fewer, better-defined clusters.

In the cellar, the vessel changes by wine. The entry Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel with a single délestage, a pump-over technique that breaks up the cap of skins gently rather than extracting aggressively, then aged almost a year in stainless steel and six months in bottle. The approach keeps the wine fresh and the tannin firm without adding oak weight.

Divus uses old vines from 1987 and ages one year in a mix of 225-litre barriques and larger barrels, which adds some spice without dominating the Montepulciano fruit.

Fosso Cancelli Trebbiano d'Abruzzo goes through spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, started from a pied de cuve culture taken from the estate's own grape population. It then ages in terracotta amphorae and Slavonian oak, two materials that add oxidative texture and grip without the flavour imprint of new French oak.

Aries Pecorino is fermented cold in stainless steel to hold the grape's natural aromatic freshness, with a portion spending three months in French oak tonneaux to add body and a slight waxy weight to the finish.

Wines

The range is built around four main wines, moving from approachable stainless-aged reds to amphora-fermented whites and an old-vine reserve tier.

The entry Montepulciano d'Abruzzo at 13.5% is the largest-volume wine. It is soft-bodied with firm tannin and red-fruit character, built for early drinking but with enough grip to hold for a few years. The single délestage keeps the extraction light.

Divus Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, from hand-selected 1987 vines near the natural lake in Pianella, is a more concentrated wine at 14%. A year in barriques and larger barrels adds some spice, and the wine needs time to settle into itself. Tannin is firmer and the fruit darker than the entry level.

Fosso Cancelli Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOP is the most texturally complex white. Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts produces a wine with savoury, slightly oxidative depth. The terracotta amphorae and Slavonian oak ageing add grip, a slightly tannic edge on the finish, and a texture that Trebbiano d'Abruzzo in stainless steel does not reach. This is a white wine that rewards a glass poured with food rather than before it.

Aries Pecorino IGP at 12.5% is aromatic and light on its feet, with the waxy texture and herbal brightness that Pecorino gives when it is harvested cleanly and fermented cold. The partial oak ageing fills out the mid-palate without muffling the grape's natural acidity.

In The Glass

Across the range, the wines sit below 14% alcohol, which keeps them lively and food-friendly. The Montepulciano opens with dark cherry, dried herb, and a faint earthiness, then delivers firm, drying tannin in the middle of the mouth and a medium finish that cuts cleanly. It is not a big wine and does not try to be.

Divus adds concentration and some cedar from the oak ageing. The tannin is grippier and needs a year or two more in bottle before it softens into the fruit. The fruit is darker, more blackberry than cherry, and the finish is longer.

Fosso Cancelli Trebbiano arrives with a slightly oxidative, almost nutty top note from the amphora ageing, then opens into something more savoury and mineral in the mouth. The finish has a mild tannic grip that is unusual in a white wine and a sign of the amphora contact.

Aries Pecorino is the most immediately aromatic of the whites: white peach, lemon pith, and a green-herb note from the grape itself. The acidity is bright and mouth-watering. The brief oak time adds a slight waxy texture on the finish but does not push toward richness.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Aries Pecorino. Pecorino is a native Abruzzese white grape, high in natural acidity and distinctively aromatic, and this bottle shows what the estate does with it at its most focused: hand-harvested fruit, cold stainless fermentation to hold the grape's freshness, three months in French oak tonneaux to add just enough body, bottled at 12.5%. This white wine has real texture, mouth-watering acidity, a slightly waxy mid-palate, and a clean herbal finish. At 12.5% it is light enough to stay lively through a full meal. It is also the clearest illustration of Chiara's core philosophy: native grapes, moderate alcohol, a single precise cellar decision.

Anecdote

In autumn 1943, just after the harvest came in from the Miglianico parcels, German troops retreating through the town requisitioned the upper floors of the Ciavolich family residence. The winery Francesco Ciavolich had built across the road in 1853 sat half-underground in the hillside, and the family moved into it. They lived in the cellars, among the barrels of that year's harvest, while the German command occupied the floors above their home. The occupation lasted into the winter. When the troops finally moved on, the family came back upstairs. The underground winery had sheltered the family and the wine both, and it still stands in Miglianico today.

Final Word

Ciavolich is an Abruzzese estate with a long institutional memory and a clear present-tense direction. The family history reaches back to the sixteenth century, the winery to 1853, and the current range to Chiara's decision in 2004 to rebuild it around native varieties and moderate alcohol. The wines sit at a price point where Abruzzo usually delivers volume without ambition. These do not. Fosso Cancelli Trebbiano and Aries Pecorino in particular highlight Abruzzo's white grapes, while the region's red-dominated reputation tends to obscure them.

Sources

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