1998 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

• By Ian D'Agata
  Jun-13, IWC Issue #10142, 6/1/2013, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Edoardo Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo) Login and sign up and see review text.

Sommelier Journal

• By Jim Meehan
  February 2009, (See more on Sommelier Journal...)

  (Valentini Trebbiano D'Abruzzo) Lemon peel, ripe red apple, and shortbread cookie emanate from the glass. This yellow-gold, medium-to-full-bodied wine is lean and mineral-rich on the palate, although the finish is a bit oaky. Winemaker Francesco Valentini's father, Edoardo, died in 2006 at age 72, after developing a cult following for world-class wines from Abruzzo's native Trebbiano and Montepulciano varietals. Under a cloud of secrecy, on an estate his family has farmed for centuries, Edoardo transformed humble grapes into world-class wines that celebrated the terroir of Abruzzo. Judging by the '98, Francesco is carrying the torch quite comfortably. Hot Picks

Rockss and Fruit

• By Lyle Fass
  3/23/2004, (See more on Rockss and Fruit...)

  (Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo) My favorite white wine from Italy. Never dissapoints and is always completely different with every bottle I open. It acts like a red wine yet has some C02 like a young German wine. The CO2 blows off after around an hour. Very trippy. A completely beguiling nose of gingerbread, graham cracker, minerals, butterscotch (not the oaky CA style butterscotch), tweed, flowers, dust, lemon and chalk. A spectrum of a nose. WOW! Completely utterely compelling aromatics. Almost 98 pts on the ever morphing nose. The palate acted like a red wine, structurally speaking. I bet people would think this was a red wine in a true blind tasting. Huge concentration but elegant like only the best White burgs can be. Beautifully detailed flavors of lemon candy (sorbet?). Brilliant acidity brings all the mineral flavors into the foreground on the epic finish that does not leave your palate but invites you for another sip. And if you don't take a sip it just sits in your mouth and stays as long as it feels like staying. This is brilliant yet very young as I know it will get more expressive with age. A stunner.