In the
19th century the Dragani family was the official supplier of wine
to the Bishop and Lords of Ortona. After World War II Gabriele Dragani
renewed the vines of Cantina Dragani’s Selva dei Canonici and Fonte
Melata vineyards and began to sell wine across the entire Italian
peninsula. Today Dragani is the largest private bottler in Abruzzo.
The Ortona area is one of Abruzzo’s oldest wine-making settlements.
As early as the 1700s a wine trade with the Dalmatian coast had been
established. Now, wine is a prime source of income for Ortona. Red
Montepulciano and white Trebbiano are the traditional vines of the
region. Custom provides that vines be grown in canopies to be renewed
each year. Older vineyards may still have fan-shaped or tree-shaped
pruning schemes. During harvest-time the grapes are carefully picked
and are subjected to wine-making techniques aimed at safeguarding
the work of the vineyard. White and rosé wines are produced using
soft techniques and controlled temperature fermentation. Red wine-making
is prevalently based on long maceration, especially for wines that
will mature, a process carried out in oak barrels
The information on this page comes in a presentation-quality pdf file:
Montepulciano
here
Chardonnay
here
