Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC

Jorio

First vintage: 1993

Montepulciano 100%

Abruzzo

Jorio is Umani Ronchi’s selected Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC. It was created in the mid-nineties to express the great potential of this varietal, in collaboration with fanatically dedicated Abruzzese winegrowers with vineyards in particularly favourable areas for its growth.

The name of the wine is intended as a tribute to the great twentieth-century Abruzzese poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, who made his wild, provincial native soil into a “barbaric” novelty, exciting and transgressive, with which he stirred and won the public’s favour. Here is D’Annunzio’s dedication to his pastoral tragedy The daughter of Jorio: “To the land of Abruzzi, to my mother, to my sisters, to my brother in exile, to my buried father, to all my dead, to all my people between the mountains and the sea, this song of ancient blood I consecrate.”

Characteristics

DENOMINATION

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC

GRAPE VARIETIES

Montepulciano 100%

AREA OF PRODUCTION

Abruzzo

VINEYARD

Located in various municipalities in the Abruzzo Region, the vineyards from which we produce Jorio are distinguished by the special attention which is dedicated to pruning. The aim is to limit fruit production and create ideal conditions for air to circulate around the productive layer of the vine. These are essential conditions for ensuring ideal ripening of the Montepulciano grape.

HARVEST

The harvest is carried out by hand and normally takes place in the period from the end of September to the mid of October.

VINIFICATION

The grapes are destalked and lightly pressed, then undergo maceration for 10- 12 days in steel fermentation vats. The temperature in this period is kept at between 26o and 28°C. As soon as the alcoholic fermentation is finished, the wine starts the malolactic fermentation. The wine next moves on to the ageing process.

AGING

About 50% is aged in 5000/8000 litre oak barrels, and the rest in barriques on their third or fourth time of use, for a period of about 12 months. After assemblage, the wine rests in bottle for several months.