Mapping the DOC sparkling wines of Abruzzo and Molise

In my quest to map the sparkling DOC(G) wines of Italy I have completed overviews of the sparkling wines of North and Central Italy and will now turn to the southern sparklers, beginning with the wines of Abruzzo and Molise.

Why do you treat these two regions together you ask? First, they were a single political unit from the time of the Kingdom of Naples, only splitting into two with the carving out of the province of Campobasso in 1963 to form the region of Molise. Second, they only have three (Abruzzo) and one (Molise) DOC sparkling-wine zones.

Both regions are mountainous, with mountain regions accounting for 65% of available lands and serving to keep rainstorms and inclement weather from the west at bay. Storms from the east do bring significant rainfall to the regions from time to time. The climate is temperate in areas facing the Adriatic Sea and continental in the areas facing the Apennines.

While Abruzzo is known for its red wines from the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo cultivar, Molise is "the most obscure of the Italian wine regions." In discussing the regions in two separate Vinous articles, Ian D'Agata made the following observations:

• They produce too many inexpensive wines that are little or no better than generic bulk wine and should not be bottled
• The bad white wines are insipid, tart, thin, ... fruit-challenged
• The less successful reds are downright caricatural, overly smoky, overly ripe, and overly oaked
• 75% of Abruzzo wine is made by 40 different Coops.

Ian sees some hope on the horizon though:

• A new generation of viticulturists and winemakers are joining the family wineries and improving the quality of those wines
• Many Abruzzo estates are seeking vineyards higher up in the mountains in an effort to improve grape quality.

The key to "vinous bliss," as he sees it, is to know who are the best producers in each of the regions.

The chart below shows the sparkling wine zones in Abruzzo (topmost figure) and Molise.

Some observations:

• Limited number of DOC sparkling wine zones in each of the regions
• Very little overlap in the indigenous grapes utilized in the production of sparkling wines in the two regions
• Primarily cuvées in Abruzzo while Molise permits a broad array of varietal sparkling wines.

Not much to see here. My next stop on this journey will be in Campania.


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