The Montonico vine has a very ancient history: a source dating back to the early 1600s of the Catasto Onciario testifies that already in that period, in the Vestino territory between the provinces of Teramo and Pescara, on the slopes of the Gran Sasso d'Italia and more precisely in the middle valley of the Fino river, there existed a vine with this name, precisely the Montonico which saw the quantitatively most important settlements in the municipality of Bisenti .
When, between 1798 and 1799, Napoleon's troops entered Italy, the French came across the cultivation of this native vine in the Teramo hinterland in Abruzzo and found its wine so fresh, harmonious and fragrant that they renamed it " le petit champagne " and requested supplies for the various detachments present in the region.
The Montonico grape has a large, elongated bunch, with a full-bodied and almost cylindrical shape and the grapes are large and round with thick and consistent skin of a greenish yellow color; it has abundant pulp: the must obtained is pale straw yellow tending towards greenish, fresh and floral to the nose. Full maturation occurs between the end of September and mid-October and the quality of this grape is that it resists drying well, in fact traditionally it was eaten fresh or dried, often the bunches were tied and hung from the beams of the houses and left there to dry until the Christmas period when people began to "taste" the grapes.
The Montonico vine has a very ancient history: a source dating back to the early 1600s of the Catasto Onciario testifies that already in that period, in the Vestino territory between the provinces of Teramo and Pescara, on the slopes of the Gran Sasso d'Italia and more precisely in the middle valley of the Fino river, there existed a vine with this name, precisely the Montonico which saw the quantitatively most important settlements in the municipality of Bisenti .
When, between 1798 and 1799, Napoleon's troops entered Italy, the French came across the cultivation of this native vine in the Teramo hinterland in Abruzzo and found its wine so fresh, harmonious and fragrant that they renamed it " le petit champagne " and requested supplies for the various detachments present in the region.
The Montonico grape has a large, elongated bunch, with a full-bodied and almost cylindrical shape and the grapes are large and round with thick and consistent skin of a greenish yellow color; it has abundant pulp: the must obtained is pale straw yellow tending towards greenish, fresh and floral to the nose. Full maturation occurs between the end of September and mid-October and the quality of this grape is that it resists drying well, in fact traditionally it was eaten fresh or dried, often the bunches were tied and hung from the beams of the houses and left there to dry until the Christmas period when people began to "taste" the grapes.
