Fruit, vegetables and pulses

Montonico grape

Montonico grape, hung from the rafters to dry for the Christmas table

A white grape of Bisenti and Cermignano, recorded as early as a 1615 land register, montonico grows in the Teramo hills beneath the Gran Sasso, on stony soils with cold winters. For centuries it was chiefly eaten at table, and in 1938 thousands of quintals left these towns for Germany. Through a Slow Food Presidium, young growers have taken back family vineyards and farm without synthetic chemicals.

• Long, almost cylindrical bunches of large round berries with thick yellow-green skins
• Generous pulp; tied bunch by bunch, the grapes dry slowly from the beams until Christmas
• Eaten fresh or dried, it also becomes wine, vino cotto, jams, must syrup and vinegar

How to enjoy it. Enjoy it fresh after the late-September harvest, or hang the bunches to dry as Bisenti families do and bring them to the table at Christmas.

Production areas

Abruzzo

Season

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