Italy · Abruzzo — Region-wide

Fattoria La Valentina

Abruzzese family estate in Spoltore, Pescara province, farming only indigenous varieties under ICEA organic certification and building its range entirely around Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

The producer

Fattoria La Valentina was founded in 1990 on the hills above Spoltore, a town a few kilometres inland from Pescara where the Adriatic plain meets the first Apennine foothills. The three Di Properzio brothers, Sabatino, Roberto and Andrea, spent four years studying their vineyards before launching their formal development programme in 1994. Their founding decision was to plant only indigenous Abruzzese varieties and to go no further. Through the 1990s, parts of Abruzzo were adding Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to their portfolios. La Valentina went the other way, committing to Montepulciano, Trebbiano Abruzzese and Pecorino, propagating all new vines from selections made within its own parcels. Luca D'Attoma joined as consulting enologist in 1998 and has shaped the winemaking since.

The range divides into two lines. The Linea Classica covers the three main Abruzzese appellations: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo in red, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo as a cherry-pink rosato from the same grape, and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo in white from indigenous Trebbiano Abruzzese. The Linea Terroir takes Montepulciano d'Abruzzo further at three named parcels, Docheio, Bellovedere and the flagship Spelt Riserva, each with extended wood ageing. All estate vineyards have held ICEA organic certification since 2016. The Spelt Riserva carries a name drawn from the ancient grain once grown on these hills before vines arrived, a detail that ties the bottle to the agricultural history of the land beneath it.

Known for

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, Pecorino

Notable facts

The story

Two Harvests Before the Handshake

Sabatino Di Properzio was walking the halls of ProWein in Düsseldorf in 1997 when he met Stefano Inama, who made Soave Classico at his family estate in Veneto. They talked long enough to agree it was worth trying something together in Abruzzo. The next two harvests, 1998 and 1999, became experimental vintages: grapes picked, wine made, the results assessed between two producers from different regions working with different grapes and different cellars. By 2000 the experiment had become a commitment. The partners acquired a 4.2-hectare parcel at San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore, a vineyard planted in the 1970s within sight of the Majella massif. They called the project Binomio. The wine it produces is a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva, entirely separate from La Valentina's own range, made from a single old mountain parcel that two producers decided was worth buying after a trade fair conversation and two experimental harvests.

From the atlas

Fattoria La Valentina

At A Glance

LocationSpoltore, Pescara province, central Abruzzo
Founded1990
OwnersSabatino, Roberto and Andrea Di Properzio
Consulting EnologistLuca D'Attoma (since 1998)
GrapesMontepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, Pecorino
FarmingCertified organic (ICEA, all vineyards since 2016)
RangesLinea Classica, Linea Terroir
Top WineSpelt Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC Riserva

The Producer

In 1990, three brothers from the province of Pescara founded a wine estate on the hills above Spoltore and spent the next four years deciding what it should become. By 1994, when Sabatino, Roberto and Andrea Di Properzio launched their formal development programme, the answer was already taking shape: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo at the centre, indigenous varieties only, and no international grapes regardless of what the market preferred.

That was a real choice. Through the 1990s, parts of Abruzzo were planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot alongside local grapes, chasing export-friendly labels. La Valentina went the other way. The estate farms Montepulciano, Trebbiano Abruzzese and Pecorino, propagates all new vines from selections made within its own parcels, and has farmed organically under ICEA certification across all its vineyards since 2016.

In 1998, Luca D'Attoma joined as consulting enologist. D'Attoma, who works with estates across central and southern Italy, has shaped the winemaking at La Valentina ever since, bringing consistency to a range that now runs from entry Montepulciano through three named-parcel terroir expressions.

Place

Spoltore is a hill town a few kilometres inland from Pescara, where the Adriatic plain meets the first Apennine foothills. Abruzzo runs east from the mountain spine to the sea, and the province of Pescara sits squarely in the middle of that transition. The altitude and the movement of air off the Adriatic give the vineyards around Spoltore a diurnal temperature range that slows ripening and preserves acidity in the grapes.

Abruzzo's DOC framework is organised around three appellations that correspond directly to grape and colour: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for the red, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo for the cherry-pink rosato made from the same grape, and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo for the white, which uses indigenous Trebbiano Abruzzese rather than the unrelated Trebbiano Toscano planted widely in central Italy. La Valentina's classic range runs one wine through each appellation. The terroir range stays entirely within Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, reading the same appellation at three levels of depth.

Soil And Site

The estate's vineyards sit on the hills surrounding Spoltore in the Pescara province. Specific soil composition and elevation figures for these parcels have not been established from available sources and are not asserted here. What the research confirms is the farming approach: no herbicides, no desiccants, ICEA-certified organic management, and hand harvesting timed to phenolic maturity rather than calendar date.

The Binomio vineyard, a separate collaborative project, sits at San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore near Majella National Park, a more inland and elevated position than the Spoltore estate.

Story

The Di Properzio brothers founded La Valentina in 1990 but did not rush to define it. Four years passed between the estate's founding and the formal launch of their development project in 1994. During that period they studied their vineyards, including several years devoted to understanding the Santa Teresa parcel, before committing to a range with DOC quality as its central goal.

Organic farming came early in practice. ICEA certification across all estate vineyards was confirmed by 2016, marking the end of a gradual transition rather than a sudden switch. The estate propagates all new vines from selections made within its own parcels, a decision that keeps La Valentina's genetic material self-contained and ensures that replanting does not introduce outside clonal material.

The name Spelt connects the estate's flagship riserva to the pre-viticulture history of these hills. Spelt, the ancient grain, was once grown on the slopes where the winery and the town of Spoltore now stand. The riserva carries that name as a reminder that this land had an agricultural history before Montepulciano arrived.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vineyards are farmed without herbicides or desiccants, certified by ICEA, and managed to reach phenolic maturity before hand harvest. All new planting uses vines propagated from the estate's own vineyard selections, maintaining what the estate describes as its genetic continuity across replanting cycles.

In the cellar, the classic Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is fermented in stainless steel with a short maceration, producing a lighter-bodied red built for early drinking. The terroir wines move into wood. Spelt Riserva spends 16 months in mixed oak vessels, then transfers to 25-hectolitre oak casks for a further period, before one year in bottle ahead of release. That regimen adds grip and weight without overwhelming the grape's dark fruit. Cellar protocols for Docheio and Bellovedere individually have not been established from available sources.

Wines

La Valentina runs two parallel ranges. The Linea Classica covers the three main Abruzzese appellations: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC in red, fermented in stainless steel with short maceration, giving dark cherry and plum with approachable tannin; Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC, the cherry-pink rosato made from Montepulciano grapes, carrying the appellation's characteristic colour and fresh red-fruit weight; and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC, white from indigenous Trebbiano Abruzzese, a grape distinct from the more neutral Trebbiano Toscano found elsewhere in central Italy.

The Linea Terroir takes Montepulciano d'Abruzzo deeper at three named sites. Docheio and Bellovedere are both single-vineyard DOC expressions, each from a named parcel, with extended wood élevage separating them from the classic bottling. Spelt Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC Riserva is the top wine: darker, denser, and more tannic than the entry red, with the oak regime adding layers of grip and spice over the grape's core dark cherry and tar. The 2018 Spelt showed dark fruit and firm tannins in Falstaff's assessment. All three terroir wines are 100% Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Binomio is a separate project, not part of La Valentina's own range, producing a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva from a vineyard near Majella National Park.

In The Glass

The classic Montepulciano d'Abruzzo opens with dark cherry and plum, the fruit clean and direct from stainless fermentation, the tannins firm but not aggressive. Acidity from the Abruzzese altitude keeps the finish moving rather than letting the wine sit heavy.

Spelt Riserva is a different register. The nose carries dark cherry, dried plum and a thread of tar, with oak-derived spice from the 16-month wood élevage. In the mouth the tannins are denser and chewier, the mid-palate fuller, and the finish longer. The 2018 Falstaff tasting recorded dark fruit with firm tannins, a note that fits the oak regimen well. At this level, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo has the density to hold wood ageing without losing the grape's characteristic dark fruit drive.

The Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo sits between the two reds in style, a rosato with the pigment and body that Montepulciano produces when the grapes are pressed early and the wine is fermented off the skins. Trebbiano d'Abruzzo is leaner and more saline-edged, the Trebbiano Abruzzese grape giving a different fruit profile from the Trebbiano Toscano a non-specialist might expect.

A Bottle To Understand It

Spelt Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC Riserva is where La Valentina's choices land in a single bottle. It is 100% Montepulciano from a named parcel on the Spoltore hills, aged 16 months in mixed oak vessels, finished in 25-hectolitre casks, and held a further year in bottle before release. In the glass it gives dark cherry, dried plum and tar on the nose, a dense mid-palate with firm tannin, and a long finish where oak spice and the grape's natural acidity work together rather than against each other. No residual sweetness, no international grape varieties, no oak character that competes with the fruit. Start here to understand what Montepulciano d'Abruzzo can do when a producer refuses to plant anything else.

Anecdote

Sabatino Di Properzio was walking the halls of ProWein in Düsseldorf in 1997 when he met Stefano Inama, who made Soave Classico at his family estate in Veneto. They talked long enough to agree it was worth trying something together in Abruzzo. The following two harvests, 1998 and 1999, became experimental vintages: grapes picked, wine made, the results assessed between two producers from different regions with different grapes and different cellars. By 2000, the experiment had become a commitment. The partners acquired a 4.2-hectare parcel at San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore, a vineyard planted in the 1970s within sight of the Majella massif. They called the project Binomio. The wine it produces is a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva, entirely separate from La Valentina's own range, made from a single old mountain parcel that two producers decided was worth buying after a trade fair conversation and two experimental harvests.

Final Word

La Valentina is an Abruzzese estate that committed to indigenous varieties and organic farming before either was fashionable in the region, built a two-tier range with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo at its centre, and reached outside Abruzzo only once, to collaborate with a Veneto producer on a single mountain vineyard. The Spelt Riserva is the clearest argument for what the estate has built: a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo aged in mixed oak vessels, from a family that has spent thirty years refusing to plant anything else.

Sources

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