Producer Profile
About Azienda Agricola Valentini
It’s easy to be a connoisseur of Italian wine and have missed Azienda Agricola Valentini. About 148 acres in the heart of Abruzzo, the Valentini estate is off the beaten track. And yet, Abruzzo’s Edoardo Valentini was known as the “Lord of the Vines,” a testament to his prodigious skill in the vineyards. Edoardo, who died in 2006, didn’t “do” press, he didn’t use modern conventions, and he fiercely guarded his winemaking protocols, divulging them only to his team. Today the estate is run by Francesco Valentini, Edoardo’s son, and he maintains his father’s high standards, extreme secrecy, and extraordinary record of crafting tremendously age-worthy wines. The Valentini estate makes only three wines — Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, and Cerasuolo Rosato d’Abruzzo — and all have achieved cult status. At most, Valentini releases 50,000 bottles every vintage (that’s total, not for each bottling) because the estate bottles only 5% of its grapes, selling off the remainder; this tiny output both frustrates the winery’s many fans and raises the profile of each new release. To put it simply, Valentino makes magic with its two grape varietals, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Trebbiano, and if you’re lucky enough to experience one of Valentini’s wines, you’ve been touched with wizardry.
