Why it matters
The producer
Tenuta Antonini farms 30 hectares in Ancarano, a village in the Teramo hills of Abruzzo, where its vineyards sit inside the Colline Teramane DOCG, the sub-appellation reserved for Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grown on the inland slopes of Teramo province. The estate runs two bottles: Corium, a red made from Montepulciano aged in tonneaux, and Hydria, a white made entirely from Pecorino under the broader Abruzzo DOC.
The family's hold on this land stretches back to the years immediately after World War II, but the winery itself arrived later, after Marco Antonini had spent more than two decades directing Villa Pigna for another owner and then built a wine-trade intermediary business before converting the family land into a production estate. Four generations separated the first plot purchase from the finished bottles.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The Colline Teramane DOCG occupies the hill country of Teramo province, caught between the Adriatic coast to the east and the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga massifs to the west. That position produces the climate conditions the appellation is known for: the mountains generate substantial swings between daytime warmth and cool nights, and the winds that move between sea and peak keep the vineyards ventilated through the growing season. Both factors slow the ripening of Montepulciano, extending the window in which the grape can accumulate colour and phenolic depth without losing the acidity that holds the wine together.
The soils across the Colline Teramane zone are mainly clay and silt, heavier toward the inland slopes and looser closer to the coast. Tenuta Antonini's 30 hectares sit in the central part of the zone, on modest gradients with good southern exposure. Clay-silt holds moisture through dry summers and delivers the mineral weight that shows in Montepulciano's mid-palate.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Green manuring is the estate's main soil management tool. Selected species are sown along the vine rows each season and turned back into the ground, feeding soil microorganisms and replacing organic matter without synthetic fertiliser. The practice keeps the vine roots working through a biologically active soil profile, which shows in the texture of the finished wine: more even ripeness across the parcel rather than isolated pockets of overripe fruit.
In the cellar, Tenuta Antonini uses cryomaceration for its white wine production. Cold-macerating the Pecorino grapes before fermentation extracts aromatic compounds while suppressing the extraction of bitter phenolics, preserving the fresh, floral register that Pecorino delivers at its best. For Corium, the process is the opposite in temperature and duration: extended maceration at warmer temperatures pulls colour, tannin, and dark fruit from Montepulciano's thick skins, and the wine then matures in tonneaux. The 2022 vintage reached 14% alcohol.
Wines to know
The range in view
Corium is Tenuta Antonini's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG. Montepulciano is a late-ripening, thick-skinned red grape that builds significant body and dark fruit on clay-silt soils with good sun exposure. Extended maceration deepens the colour and tannin extraction; maturation in tonneaux adds a layer of cedar and spice without dominating the fruit. The 2022 carries 14% alcohol and shows leather, cedar, cigar smoke, black cherry, and dried fig. Corium is a substantial, age-worthy red built for food.
Hydria is the estate's Abruzzo Pecorino DOC, made from 100% Pecorino grapes. Pecorino is an aromatic, medium-weight white grape with naturally high acidity and a pronounced floral and stone-fruit character. Cryomaceration preserves that aromatic lift while keeping the palate fresh. The 2024 vintage is 13% alcohol and is positioned for drinking young. Hydria gives the range a white wine that shares no obvious stylistic overlap with Corium: where the red is dense and oak-touched, the white is fragrant and immediate.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Corium is the bottle to start with. It is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG from 30 hectares of clay-silt in the Teramo hills, aged in tonneaux after extended maceration. In the glass it delivers black cherry and dried fig with leather, cedar, and a firm tannic frame that softens with food or with a couple of years in the cellar. The 2022 vintage is the current release at 14% alcohol. Corium shows what the Colline Teramane sub-appellation produces when the farming is careful and the cellar gives the grape time: a serious, structured red from one of Abruzzo's more demanding appellations.