Soft drinks, spirits and liqueurs

Roccamontepiano cotta (cooked-must wine)

Roccamontepiano cotta: must simmered in the cauldron, then years in cask

On the eastern slopes of the Maiella, near Chieti, Montepulciano must is boiled for seven to more than twelve hours until barely a third of it is left. Blended with fresh must, it ferments and rests in cask for at least a year, sometimes for decades. A Slow Food Presidium, it is made in small quantities by the village cooperative.

• From dark amber to garnet, up to the hue known locally as occhio di gallo, at around 15% abv
• Sweet without cloying: a dry, savoury finish brings the sip back into balance
• Cooked together: members bring their grapes to a shared room and each takes home their own

How to enjoy it. Serve it after a meal with sweets, or alone as a digestif. In Abruzzo a cask is set aside when a child is born and opened on that child's wedding day.

Production areas

Abruzzo

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