Sheepish about new kinds of wine? Try Pecorino! (#ItalianFWT)

Once upon a long time ago, I majored in English language and literature. Decades later, I’m finding myself fascinated by Italian words.

It all started when Lynn at Savor the Harvest challenged the Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) group of bloggers to write about pecorino or other grape varieties from Le Marche or Abruzzo regions of central Italy.

Like many of you, no doubt, I’d only heard of pecorino, the cheese. In Italian, pecorino means “of ewes,” from pecora (“sheep”). Pecorino is the name given to Italian cheeses made from 100% sheep’s milk.

OK, but what do sheep have to do with pecorino, the grape?

Pecorino is an old indigenous grape that grew wild in the Sibillini Mountains and was brought back from near extinction in the 1980s. Experts believe pecorino may have been snack food for wandering sheep, because the grapes are fairly thin-skinned and naturally high in sugar. When fermented dry, the sugar is consumed. The resulting wine is balanced by strong acidity.

Beppi Crosariol, a columnist for The Globe and Mail, traces the rediscovery of pecorino to one particular producer, Guido Cocci Grifoni, who had been searching for local heirloom varieties to bring back to life:

“Pecorino caught his fancy, and his subsequent search, in conjunction with a couple of agricultural experts, took him in 1982 to the hamlet of Pescara and a farmer named Cafini, who had been tending a vineyard 1,000 meters above sea level. The following year, Cocci Grifoni grafted cuttings from the property onto about 100 rootstocks at a vineyard in nearby Offida, now a key appellation for some of the best pecorino wines. The variety spread from there to such regions as Abruzzo, Umbria, Tuscany and Liguria.”

The pecorino I sampled for this assignment is from Abruzzo, a mostly mountainous region of the country that is still considered wild today.

Three national parks are set up in Abruzzo as protected areas for golden eagles, wolves, lynx and the Marsican brown bear. High mountain peaks gradually slope down to a range of hills before reaching the Adriatic coast. The Adriatic coast is characterized by long and sandy beaches to the north and pebbly beaches to the south, and the region is dotted with small villages, monasteries and castles. Tourist sites note that Abruzzo is just a short drive from Rome and more affordable than Tuscany.

Now that producers have brought back the pecorino grape, I’m hoping sheep will return to the vineyards of central Italy – to graze, not to munch the grapes! Sheep keep down weeds and fertilize the soil. Perhaps they would add a special quality to the grapes as well as to their milk.

The Wine

2016 Talamonti Trabocchetto Pecorino Colline Pescaresi IGT

This 100% pecorino wine is produced from grapes grown near the village of Loreto Aprutino in Abruzzo’s rugged interior. The vineyards are located on slopes at the foot of Gran Sasso mountain, with exposure to the Adriatic Sea. They benefit from a microclimate that is particularly favorable to ripening of the grapes. The soil in the pecorino vineyards is stony, chalky and well-drained. Hand-harvested, the grapes are sorted to remove stalks and crushed. They undergo a cold maceration followed by a soft pressing. The clarified must is fermented in stainless steel for 12 days at 60-61°F to preserve the fruitiness and freshness of the wine.

Established in 2001, the Talamonti estate has about 80 acres of vineyards dedicated to growing red and white varieties, including Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo and Pecorino.

Trabocchetto was selected as the name for the estate’s indigenous pecorino wine based on the historical importance of this ancient machinery to Abruzzi’s fishing tradition. According to local historians, the Trabocco (orTrabucco) was imported from the Middle East and quickly adopted throughout the Adriatic Coast. A wooden platform that stretches out to sea and is anchored to large rocks, the Trabocchetto permitted fishermen to fish in the worst of weather conditions. The term was also applied to the giant wooden catapults used by European armies in medieval times to assault fortresses and castles throughout Europe.

Tasting notes: Bright gold in color. Delicate aromas of ripe pear and apple giving way to flowers, grapefruit and tangy acidity on a medium-length finish. Refreshing!

The Pairing

As you may have guessed by now, I was determined to use a pecorino or 100% sheep’s milk cheese in this pairing. Through my research, I learned that sheep’s milk cheese figures prominently in many Abruzzo dishes, including crepes, soufflés and stews. Pastuccia, for example, is a polenta stew served with sausage, egg and grated sheep’s milk cheese.

Unlike some of the Italian islands our group “visited” last month, much of Central Italy has been protected from foreign influences. This means its cuisine is genuinely Italian. Abruzzo main courses consist mostly of meat inland and fish on the coast. Other notable dishes include Maccheroni all chitarra, a pasta dough made from eggs and durum wheat and cut into strips using a chitarra (“guitar”). Chitarra is typically served with pork, goose or lamb ragout. 

Recently, on a lark, I created a salad topped with sardines and crumbly Ricotta Salata, and opened the pecorino. Ricotta Salata is a milky white, salty and slightly pungent Italian cheese made from the whey part of sheep’s milk. It is pressed, salted and aged for at least 90 days. The fishy, salty flavor of the salad paired beautifully with the tangy acidity of the wine.

So, as my “official” pairing for this post, I decided to go with a classic Italian antipasto featuring salami and Ricotta Salata, followed by Sagne e Faggioli, typically a soupy bean and pasta dish flavored by a thin sauce made from tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and spicy pepper.

I modified this recipe – purchasing ready-made pasta and substituting the fishy sardines for the cooked sausage. My version was more saucy than soupy, but it was a big hit!

We will be live on Twitter Saturday, May 4, at 11 am ET for a chat about all things Pecorino, Le Marche, and Abruzzo. We use the hashtag #ItalianFWT. Here’s what we have in store:

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla will dazzel us with “Oven-Roasted Trout with Citrus Salsa Crudo + 2017 Lunaria “Civitas” Pecorino”

Gwendolyn, the Wine Predator is “Pairing Pecorino d’Abuzzo from Ferzo: Lemon Caper Shrimp #ItalianFWT”

Cindy at Grape Experiences does a “Twirl. Sip. Savor: 2016 Tenuta Cocci Grifoni Offida Pecorino Colle Vecchio and Creamy Garlic Shrimp with Linguini”

Lauren at The Swirling Dervish asks “Looking for a New White Wine to Serve this Spring? Try Pecorino from Tenuta Santori in Italy!”

Susannah from Avvinare shares “Pecorino from the Lady from Le Marche – Angela Velenosi- Velenosi Vini”

Jeff at Food Wine Click goes “On the Hunt for the Pecorino Grape”

David from Cooking Chat shares “Roasted Asparagus Pasta with Pecorino”

Jennifer at Vino Travels discovers “Grape of the Sheep with Umani Ronchi Pecorino”.

Steven from Steven’s Wine and Food Blog cooks up a “Brodetto di Pesce Wine Pairing #ItalianFWT”.

Katarina at Grapevine Adventures discusses “Le Marche & Abruzzo – Two Regions… Two Expressions of Pecorino”.

Kevin from SnarkyWine shares “Pecorino – Welcome to the Fold”

At Savor the Harvest, our host Lynn is “Discovering the Pecorino Grape #ItalianFWT”