Pecorino

Pecorino is an old variety that most likely originated in the Marche, in the Monti Sibillini foothills around Arquata del Tronto, a part of Ascoli Piceno province. Its name comes from pecora, the Italian word for sheep. A common local explanation is that flocks moving between summer and winter pastures grazed on the ripe bunches, though this is folklore rather than documented history. DNA studies available so far have not established any parent-offspring relationship for Pecorino, so its ancestry remains an open question. Growers in Abruzzo have long argued that the variety belongs to their side of the Apennines as well, and the true point of origin is not settled.

Until the twentieth century Pecorino was grown widely across the central Adriatic hills, but its modest yields and very early harvest made it unattractive in the cooperative era, and it was replaced by Trebbiano and other more productive vines. By the end of the century it survived mostly in a few high, old vineyards near Arquata del Tronto, and Italian plantings stood at only 87 hectares in 2000.

The revival began in the 1980s, when the Ascoli Piceno producer Guido Cocci Grifoni brought cuttings from the surviving vines down to Offida and Ripatransone and made it a quality white. In Abruzzo, Luigi Cataldi Madonna was among the first to put the name on a label, in the mid to late 1990s, and plantings expanded rapidly afterwards. Estimates of the area planted vary considerably, but all agree it is now well over a thousand hectares. In Calabria the name Pecorino (or Pecorello) is applied to Greco Bianco, an unrelated variety.

Pecorino is an early-ripening variety that buds relatively early and is often harvested before many other whites in its home districts. Bunches are small and compact, and yields are naturally low to moderate unless vigorous clones or rootstocks push them higher. Growers value its resistance to both powdery and downy mildew, a useful trait in the humid Adriatic climate, although tight bunches still call for careful canopy management to avoid botrytis in wet autumns. Its main strength is the ability to ripen fully at altitude: at 250 to 500 metres on limestone, clay and sandy-clay soils, it holds acidity while developing aromatic depth. On warm, low sites sugars rise quickly and the wines lose focus, so picking date is the critical decision. The vine adapts to both Guyot and spurred cordon training.

The dominant style is a dry, unoaked white fermented cool in stainless steel and bottled young, with lemon, grapefruit, white peach and fresh herbs, firm acidity and a saline finish. It is typically medium-bodied, with alcohol of 12.5 to 14 percent. A second style uses extended lees contact with regular stirring, sometimes in concrete, large oak or amphora; these wines gain a creamier texture and notes of dried herbs, almond and beeswax, and can age for five years or more. Small amounts of orange or skin-contact Pecorino are made by natural-wine producers, mainly in Abruzzo. Sparkling versions exist, using the tank method, and passito sweet wines are authorised in Abruzzo DOC. Pecorino is also used as a blending partner, usually with Trebbiano Toscano or Passerina, in Falerio, Colli Maceratesi and the sparkling wines of Controguerra DOC.