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Dino Illuminati, me and Daniele Spinelli,- 30 years ago |
My first exposure to Trebbiano d’Abruzzo was in 1980. I was running a wine bar in Dallas, and the salesperson brought in three wines from a winery in Abruzzo, Illuminati - Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (the red), Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (the rosé) and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (the white). Little did I know this wine would be the one I would look back, almost 40 years later, with so many memories, so much exposure to.
At first, I wasn’t much impressed. But it was 1980, and white wine from Italy was just beginning to enter into a new era. Often, white Italian wine was (unfashionably) yellow-orange, or if the devil of oxidation had had its way, murky brown. A few years later, as I entered into the wholesale distribution channel, the company I worked for, Arwood H. Stowe, had Illuminati in their book. The year was 1983. I remember seeing the importer one day in the office, Eugenio Spinozzi, and thinking to myself, “looks like we’re getting into the Greek or Lebanese wine business now.” Eugenio was tanned from a summer on the beach in his hometown, San Benedetto del Tronto. I had no idea he was Italian.
There was something about the wine, as it evolved in the technical side, that really hooked me. The body was light but not Frascati light. It had this nuttiness that leant itself well to marrying with the gorgeous seafood we were enjoying on the beach. And it wasn’t so full of itself that it had to be front stage and center. It was a player in the band, not the soloist. Never a diva, but always singing somewhere in the choir, making the overall experience better for those who were in the audience.
Back in Texas, as we were experiencing America’s culinary ascension into a more Mediterranean-centric lifestyle, the foods that were coming to the tables (and the grocers) were more complementary to a kind of wine like Trebbiano d'Abruzzo.
1982 Illuminati Trebbiano d’Abruzzo – light in color, with a pale straw tinge. In the nose there is salinity and lemon zest. The flavor is dry, bone dry, but the fruit along the edge is fresh and citric. Acidity is high but not throat scorching. In all, the wine is a simple but lovely quaff that goes well with grilled seafood, or a nice plate of paste with clams.
Now, all one needs to do is scan their Instagram or Delectable feed and sooner or later, the “newly discovered” Trebbiano of Emidio Pepe or the “unicorn” Trebbiano of Valentini show up on someone’s feed. But it wasn’t always so. I know, because I was there, one of the early donkeys carrying the (Italian) water up the hill, in hopes of advancing the popularity of wines like Trebbiano. Nobody wanted Trebbiano, nobody. Nowadays, the likes of Tiberia, Masciarelli, Cirelli and La Valentina, Trebbiano Abruzzese has secured a place in wine bars and “cool kids” hangouts, from Williamsburg in Brooklyn to Alberta Street in Portland. I celebrate this as a “win” after a grueling 40-year battle of getting Americans “into” Trebbiano.
For me, it was always the simple white, the Trebbiano d’ Abruzzo, that won my heart. Eventually I’d find a way to get it poured by the glass in a few places and over time, the restaurateurs and wine shops started softening. That was before the cheap tsunami of California wine started crashing upon the shores of middle America. But we sold hundreds of thousands of bottles of that wine, in land-locked Texas. We did it against all odds.
Wine writer Mike Lonsford, wrote in the Houston Chronicle on December 23, 1982 about Illuminati wines and offered this guarded recommendation:
“The Trebbiano is a modest-priced wine (around $3.99) which as I said is meant to go with food, especially creamy or cheese-filled dishes. It’s fairly well-balanced, but again, a trifle hard and acidic, as are many Italian wines.”
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| Actually, a bowl of pasta casalinga with seafood (without cream or cheese) is preferable |
But Italian white wines were still some time off before becoming more fully integrated into the mainstream of wining and dining culture in the US.
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| From Ỏlivepiù - Olive ascolane,lovingly hauled from Italy |
When I see the current-gen waxing on their reddit feed about “where has this wine been all my life?” I laugh, and I cry. But it’s really tears of joy, not crocodile tears. I’m happy they’ve “discovered” Trebbiano. Even if it is “orange.” Hell, I’ve drunk my share of orange Trebbiano as well. Not that it was the intended final product. But it was there, and the nuns taught me to “waste not.”
Eugenio Spinozzi wrote this in his letter to introduce Illuminati and their wines (including the Trebbiano) to new customers in America back in the early 1980’s:
“It is my belief that in the world of wines there is nothing ‘new’ to put on the market but what does exist is a close and passionate race among the producers to obtain the best wine from their grapes and then to bring this product to the consumers for even better drinking, appearance and price range.”
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| In 1997 Illuminati changed their "Costalupo" Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC to the newly formed Controguerra Bianco DOC |
From where I stand, Trebbiano Abruzzese has played its part well. Very well.
written (with photographs provided) by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy
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