Introduction to Illuminati

Monday I drove back up to the northern part of Abruzzo, near the boundary with Le Marche, where the land and the towns have a more prosperous and polished look than the area around Alanno.  There's something about the feel and rhythm of the northern province of Teramo, where many of the best (at least DOCG sanctified) wines of Abruzzo are made, that makes you think it's far more tightly bound to the modern economy of Italy's North and to the world beyond than is true of the more southerly provinces.  (For the record, Abruzzo consists of four provinces: L'Aquila, Chieti, Pescara and Teramo.)  The impression is even stronger when you cross the border into Le Marche, just a few miles north, or when you simply look in that direction from the pretty town of Controguerra, which is the center of an area that encompasses both Camillo Montori's and Illuminati's properties.

You feel that way when you visit a winery up there too.  Azienda Agricola Dino Illuminati had a deceptively bucolic appearance when I was there--things were quietly georgic in a way that would have pleased Horace (the original or Walpole), since the beginning of the harvest was still about ten days off, and the machinery for handling the grapes from nearly a hundred hectares was waiting to be cleaned.  Before long, the Illuminati people would be starting the process of transforming all  those tons of grapes into, eventually, a million bottles of wine in virtually all categories (except, aha, sparkling dry reds!), half of it to go abroad.  (Half of the American imports go to the New York market alone.)  The emphasis on foreign markets was in marked contrast to Pietrantonj, for example, a far smaller and domestically focused operation.

True, Illuminati workers were neatening up the grounds near the main office/tasting facility/historic family house complex.  And yes, there were workers toiling diligently underground in the ageing cellars, where I was able to watch them do the remuage for the brut sparkler, made by the metodo classico, and consisting of Trebbiano, Riesling and Chardonnay.  But I had the feeling of a long repose before the intense activity of the late summer and fall, into the following spring. 

Under that strong clear sun, with that view from Stefano's office of gentle, vine- and olive-covered hills falling toward the sea just a few miles away, it seemed only natural to feel that everyone was on summer vacation.  (Note: sea breezes and incursioni termiche are a good thing when you have a vineyard, as anyone in Sonoma or Napa will tell you.  Especially when your vineyards pretty much all face south and east, as do Illuminati's, because you do want the resulting wines tend to avoid overripeness, no?  If this information is too basic for you, sorry.  But this factor is critical in the high quality of Illuminati's reds, generally considered among the very best of this up-and-coming region; and in marked contrast to Montori's wines, where the whites excel no doubt because of the northern orientation of his lands.)

I will continue with the tasting of some strikingly diverse Illuminati wines and lunch with Stefano in the beautiful little town of Torano.  But it grows late and much to do in the morning.  Ciao, everyone.

[And I will post pictures of this beautiful place when I have a broadband connection, which I am rediscovering is a basic requirement of modern civilization, as a 10 acre bath / civic center / library / diddle house was in Roman times.]

Comments

[Fredric Koeppel]

BTW, the Times travel section yesterday had a piece on how San Gimignano is over-run by tourists and another on the rustic joys of Abruzzi.

[Alder]

One of my favorite's from the region. Can't wait to see the photos!