Edoardo Valentini and Emidio Pepe are kings of Abruzzo's Trebbiano, Pecorino, and Montepulciano. Valentini is famous for his disdain of paperwork and insistence on only bottling Montepulciano in select vintages when quality is sky-high. Emidio Pepe is known best for his late releases of aged Montepulciano (The wines below came directly to us from their cellar). Both producers generally eschew sulfur, making them true models of a hands-off regimen in the cellar.

Today's list also gives an honorable mention to Amorotti, started by Gaetano Carboni in 2000. He grows five hectares of vines on his family's polyculture farm and received guidance from Valentini on what clonal material to plant. They released their wines for the first time starting with the 2016 vintage. Though relatively new to the market, Amorotti offers a great introduction to Abruzzo before diving into the higher-priced cuvées by the region's legends.

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