De Fermo - Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo "Le Cince" 2023 (750ml)
Price: $45.99
| Producer | De Fermo |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Abruzzo |
| Varietal | Montepulciano |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Sku | 206196 |
| Size | 750ml |
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De Fermo Description
A wine obsessive since childhood, Stefano Papetti Ceroni met his future wife Eloisa de Fermo at law school in Bologna. They bonded over a shared passion for wine, but it wasn’t until almost a decade after they fell in love that Eloisa took Stefano to her family’s farm in Abruzzo’s Pescara hills—a farm that had been in her family for 250 years but to which she had never paid much mind up to that point in her life.
The couple immediately set out to return to pre-chemical methods in De Fermo’s vineyards, adopting biodynamics in 2008 and becoming certified a few years later. The farm itself encompasses nearly 200 hectares, with 17 hectares of grapevines, 20 hectares of olive trees, and large swaths dedicated to vegetables, legumes, herbs, and grazing land for cows; Stefano and Eloisa understand that this biodiversity is a key ingredient in the quality of their wines and work always to nurture it.
Among the grapevines, Montepulciano leads plantings with 10 hectares of surface area; Pecorino, a variety Stefano particularly reveres and has been planting more of, encompasses 3.5 hectares; Chardonnay occupies 2.5 hectares; and just under one hectare is planted to Trebbiano. In contrast to the higher-yielding pergola system seen in many of the area’s vineyards, most of De Fermo’s vines are planted in cordon royat, which severely limits potential yields but produces particularly concentrated and expressive fruit.
Situated in the commune of Loreto Aprutino in the province of Pescara, De Fermo’s vineyards occupy among the best terroirs in all of Abruzzo: stony, steep slopes just a few kilometers south of the legendary Azienda Agricola Valentini. In Stefano’s skilled hands—assisted since 2015 by our friend Paolo Ravano, who manages vineyards for the likes of Cappellano and Le Boncie as well—these vineyards yield wines of uncommon mineral precision and complexity compared to those of their neighbors in the larger region.
De Fermo’s cellar work emphasizes minimal interference, anchored by the intent to produce as pure an expression of their immaculate vineyards as possible. To that end, they employ spontaneous fermentations, keep sulfur dioxide usage to a minimum, and bottle their wines gently and without filtration. A variety of aging vessels are employed—Stockinger botti, Garbelotto tonneaux, and concrete (notably, no stainless steel)—but all serve to provide textural harmony rather than to contribute aromas or flavors. This sort of sensitive, thoughtful low-interventionism allows the wines to locate expressive registers impossible with more strong-fisted methods.
De Fermo’s Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo proper (named after the local “cinciallegra” bird, known for its loud chirping) shows kinship with the Rosato “Concrete” above in its driving energy and its overall tangy jubilance, but it offers significantly greater depth and complexity as well as a more profound minerality. “Le Cince” is partly rather than fully de-stemmed, given a longer maceration of four hours, and aged in 16-hectoliter Stockinger botti rather than concrete—a regimen which broadens the wine’s texture and emphasizes its structure. Subtle notes of cocoa and fruit leather emerge amidst the swarm of fresh cherries, and the palate displays remarkable tension and length. Plenty expressive in youth, this will develop even greater complexity with cellaring.
Vinous: 93 Points
Decidedly floral, the 2023 Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Le Cince blends flowery underbrush and rose petals with white strawberries and raw honey. This blends sweet and sour, showing blood orange and tart cherries over a steam of tactile mineral tones, all guided by a core of brisk acidity. The 2023 tapers off with youthful tension and a salty flourish, leaving a raspberry concentration and gentle tannic clout. This is Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo at its very best.
