Italy · Colline Teramane (Teramo province)

Tenuta Antonini

A four-generation family estate in Ancarano, Teramo, farming 30 hectares inside the Colline Teramane DOCG zone with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Pecorino.

The producer

Tenuta Antonini farms 30 hectares on the clay-silt slopes of Ancarano, in the Teramo hills of Abruzzo, where its vineyards occupy the central part of the Colline Teramane DOCG: the sub-appellation reserved for Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grown on the inland slopes of Teramo province. Two bottles carry the estate name. Corium is a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG aged in tonneaux after extended maceration, dark-fruited and firmly built. Hydria is a varietal Abruzzo Pecorino DOC made from 100% Pecorino, vinified with cold maceration to preserve aromatic lift and drunk young.

The family's hold on this land goes back to the years immediately after World War II, when Simplicio Antonini returned from an unsuccessful spell in America and used what remained of his savings to buy a small plot in Ancarano. Three more generations assembled the current 30 hectares around that original piece of ground. The winery itself came later: Marco Antonini spent more than two decades directing Villa Pigna for another owner, launched a wine-trade intermediary business in 2003, and eventually joined with Alessio to convert the family land into a production estate. The Teramo hills, caught between the Adriatic coast and the Gran Sasso massif, give the estate its climate: significant day-night temperature swings, steady ventilation, and clay-silt soils that slow Montepulciano's ripening and deepen its colour.

Known for

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG (Corium); Abruzzo Pecorino DOC (Hydria)

Notable facts

The story

What Simplicio Brought Home

Simplicio Antonini left for America after the war with every intention of staying. He did not make his fortune there. When he came back to Ancarano he had enough money left to buy one small piece of land on the Teramo hillside and not much more. He planted it, worked it, and passed it to his son Luigi, who added olive trees and kept the property intact without ever building a winery. Three generations later that original parcel sits at the centre of a 30-hectare estate, and the family's bottles carry the name of the man who brought just enough money home from a failed trip to the New World to buy the ground they grow on.

From the atlas

Tenuta Antonini

At A Glance

The Producer

Tenuta Antonini farms 30 hectares in Ancarano, a village in the Teramo hills of Abruzzo, where its vineyards sit inside the Colline Teramane DOCG, the sub-appellation reserved for Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grown on the inland slopes of Teramo province. The estate runs two bottles: Corium, a red made from Montepulciano aged in tonneaux, and Hydria, a white made entirely from Pecorino under the broader Abruzzo DOC.

The family's hold on this land stretches back to the years immediately after World War II, but the winery itself arrived later, after Marco Antonini had spent more than two decades directing Villa Pigna for another owner and then built a wine-trade intermediary business before converting the family land into a production estate. Four generations separated the first plot purchase from the finished bottles.

Place

The Colline Teramane DOCG occupies the hill country of Teramo province, caught between the Adriatic coast to the east and the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga massifs to the west. That position produces the climate conditions the appellation is known for: the mountains generate substantial swings between daytime warmth and cool nights, and the winds that move between sea and peak keep the vineyards ventilated through the growing season. Both factors slow the ripening of Montepulciano, extending the window in which the grape can accumulate colour and phenolic depth without losing the acidity that holds the wine together.

The soils across the Colline Teramane zone are mainly clay and silt, heavier toward the inland slopes and looser closer to the coast. Tenuta Antonini's 30 hectares sit in the central part of the zone, on modest gradients with good southern exposure. Clay-silt holds moisture through dry summers and delivers the mineral weight that shows in Montepulciano's mid-palate.

Soil And Site

The clay-silt soils on Tenuta Antonini's parcels are moderately fertile and drain slowly, which suits Montepulciano: the grape responds to stress by concentrating its dark fruit rather than swelling with water. The estate uses green manuring along the vine rows, sowing selected plant species that break down into the soil and restore organic matter without synthetic inputs. The practice improves soil biology and helps regulate fertility across the 30 hectares. The combination of clay retention, mountain ventilation, and managed canopy work defines the growing conditions for both Corium and Hydria.

Story

Simplicio Antonini came back from America sometime after the war with little money and bought a small plot of land in Ancarano. His son Luigi worked the same land for the next generation, planting olive trees alongside other crops and keeping the holding intact. Neither man built a winery.

Marco, Simplicio's grandson, took a different path. A landowner in the area spotted his aptitude early and brought him into Villa Pigna, his own winery, where Marco eventually became director and stayed for more than 20 years. When Marco left to start his own business in 2003, he moved into wine-sector intermediary work: buying and selling, no production. The family's 30 hectares, assembled around Simplicio's original plot, sat ready but unused as a winery.

Alessio, the fourth generation, changed the direction. He joined Marco, and the two agreed to do what Simplicio had never been able to: build a winery on the family land. Corium and Hydria are the result of that decision. The 30 hectares that Simplicio's small purchase eventually became are now the estate's entire vineyard base.

Vineyards And Cellar

Green manuring is the estate's main soil management tool. Selected species are sown along the vine rows each season and turned back into the ground, feeding soil microorganisms and replacing organic matter without synthetic fertiliser. The practice keeps the vine roots working through a biologically active soil profile, which shows in the texture of the finished wine: more even ripeness across the parcel rather than isolated pockets of overripe fruit.

In the cellar, Tenuta Antonini uses cryomaceration for its white wine production. Cold-macerating the Pecorino grapes before fermentation extracts aromatic compounds while suppressing the extraction of bitter phenolics, preserving the fresh, floral register that Pecorino delivers at its best. For Corium, the process is the opposite in temperature and duration: extended maceration at warmer temperatures pulls colour, tannin, and dark fruit from Montepulciano's thick skins, and the wine then matures in tonneaux. The 2022 vintage reached 14% alcohol.

Wines

Corium is Tenuta Antonini's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG. Montepulciano is a late-ripening, thick-skinned red grape that builds significant body and dark fruit on clay-silt soils with good sun exposure. Extended maceration deepens the colour and tannin extraction; maturation in tonneaux adds a layer of cedar and spice without dominating the fruit. The 2022 carries 14% alcohol and shows leather, cedar, cigar smoke, black cherry, and dried fig. Corium is a substantial, age-worthy red built for food.

Hydria is the estate's Abruzzo Pecorino DOC, made from 100% Pecorino grapes. Pecorino is an aromatic, medium-weight white grape with naturally high acidity and a pronounced floral and stone-fruit character. Cryomaceration preserves that aromatic lift while keeping the palate fresh. The 2024 vintage is 13% alcohol and is positioned for drinking young. Hydria gives the range a white wine that shares no obvious stylistic overlap with Corium: where the red is dense and oak-touched, the white is fragrant and immediate.

In The Glass

Corium opens with dark fruit: black cherry, dried fig, and a leather and cedar edge that comes partly from the tonneaux ageing and partly from the Montepulciano grape itself. In the mouth the wine is full-bodied and firmly tannic, with the weight that clay-silt and extended maceration produce together. The mountain temperature swings preserve enough acidity to keep the fruit from feeling overripe, and the finish carries cigar smoke and spice. At 14% alcohol the wine needs food or time; the tannins are built for ageing.

Hydria is a different register entirely. Pecorino delivers white flowers, green apple, and a hint of citrus pith on the nose. Cryomaceration has preserved the aromatic clarity without adding any phenolic bitterness. The palate is fresh, with mouth-watering acidity and a clean, lifted finish. At 13% alcohol the wine stays light enough to work as an aperitif or with seafood from the Adriatic coast.

A Bottle To Understand It

Corium is the bottle to start with. It is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG from 30 hectares of clay-silt in the Teramo hills, aged in tonneaux after extended maceration. In the glass it delivers black cherry and dried fig with leather, cedar, and a firm tannic frame that softens with food or with a couple of years in the cellar. The 2022 vintage is the current release at 14% alcohol. Corium shows what the Colline Teramane sub-appellation produces when the farming is careful and the cellar gives the grape time: a serious, structured red from one of Abruzzo's more demanding appellations.

Anecdote

Simplicio Antonini left for America after the war with every intention of staying. He did not make his fortune there. When he came back to Ancarano he had enough money left to buy one small piece of land on the Teramo hillside and not much more. He planted it, worked it, and passed it to his son Luigi, who added olive trees and kept the property intact without ever building a winery. Three generations later that original parcel sits at the centre of a 30-hectare estate, and the family's bottles carry the name of the man who brought just enough money home from a failed trip to the New World to buy the ground they grow on.

Final Word

Tenuta Antonini makes two bottles from a 30-hectare holding in the Colline Teramane hills: Corium, a structured Montepulciano d'Abruzzo built for the table, and Hydria, an aromatic Pecorino for early drinking. The estate took four generations to become a winery, beginning with a small postwar land purchase and arriving at production after Marco Antonini's long career at Villa Pigna and Alessio's decision to convert the family land into something that pours into a glass. The Teramo hills, with their clay-silt soils, mountain temperature swings, and Adriatic winds, give the estate its growing conditions. The two bottles make good use of them.

Sources

Open Tenuta Antonini in the interactive map →