Tenuta del Priore

Tenuta del Priore is a family-owned Abruzzese cantina making classic Abruzzo Bianco, Pecorino, Passerina, Montepulciano & Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo wines from 53ha of vineyards near the village of Collecorvino, in the province of Pescara; 75% of the estate is devoted to Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The vineyards are located high up in sight of the Adriatic Sea, on calcareous clay, morainic & silty soils rich with (calc) stones among the Colline Pescaresi & close to Pescara & the Adriatic sea. Indeed their top, 4.5ha, Montepulciano vineyard, ‘Filiani’ (after the previous owner), lies but 3km from the seaside at a breezy c.270m asl on a range of silty limestone hills close to the village of Città Sant’Angelo, within the DOCG zone of Colline Teramo in the provincia of Atri. Its fruit goes into the ‘Kerrias’ label.

The property has been owned by the Mazzocchetti family for many generations, who started bottling their wines in 1973. Fabrizio Mazzocchetti (pictured left) is the latest generation to assume responsibility for the estate, along with his father Antonio. Notably Fabrizio learned his trade outside Abruzzo, attending wine school in Florence before honing his (white) wine-making skills in Alto Adige at the the famous San Michele Appiano cantina, Bolzano. Fabrizio’s first vintage was in 2001 & since then he has worked hard to fine-tune the viticulture & vinification. From 2017 Fabrizio has been working hard to bring more clarity, rigour & definition to his ‘Col del Mondo’ Montepulciano. A slightly earlier harvest date, less (new) barriques, plus the adoption of Clyuver cermaic eggs for l’affinamento has definitely helped.

Giovanna Fabrizii, Fabrizio’s wife, manages him, their two boys, & the office!

They are proud of their ‘Campotino’ range of wines, that delivers high quality, terroir expressive, affordable drinking from younger, guyot-trained vines in cooler spots with lighter soils. The whites (Abruzzo Bianco, Pecorino & Passerina) are expertly made to give clear fruit expression & a sense of place, without the use of oak; as does the rosato Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo & the inky purple Montepulciano d’Abruzzo; refined in cement tanks.

Fabrizio also makes a ‘Col del Mondo‘ range, which he started when he joined the business. This range comes from older 21yo + spur-trained vines planted in more favourable, white calcareous clay & morainic soils over looking the Adriatic.

Harvesting of the white grapes usually takes place in this order: Pecorino, Trebbiano, Passerina & lastly Fiano (di Avellino)

Stelvin, DIAM5 & Amorim NDTech corks