You might be forgiven for never having tasted a pecorino white, but a glass of the Umani Ronchi Pecorino Colli Aprutini Centovie 2021, perhaps paired with a bit of grilled fish on a summer evening, will let you know what you’ve been missing.
Pecorino whites offer plenty of fruit, usually within the citrus spectrum and in this case tending toward gooseberry, together with lovely flecks of grassy meadow, which are highlighted on the palate by the grape’s characteristic high-level acidity and a savory mineral underlay. The Centovie was made in stainless steel with no malolactic fermentation, which makes it doubly fresh on the palate.
The major reason you may not have spotted a pecorino before is that it’s relatively rare, even in its native regions of Marche and Abruzzo on the Adriatic coast of central Italy. Even there it was almost driven to extinction, and not so long ago, as producers hell-bent on high yields and with scant regard for quality uprooted their historic pecorino vines to make way for more generous and thicker-skinned varieties, usually trebbiano. Thankfully, producers today have realized the folly of that decision and pecorino can once again relish the prospect of a return to the reputation for quality that it had enjoyed for centuries.
“Pecora” in Italian means “sheep” and “pecorino” means “little sheep,” and it is said that the grape got its name from the fact that flocks of sheep, during the drive down from higher pastures to lower, couldn’t resist a nibble on their way through the vineyards. Ampelographers insist that it has nothing to do with Italy’s famous cheese of the same name.
But once you become a pecorino aficionado like me, you will find that the combination of the acidity and mineral character often tempts you to identify a trace of, yes, fresh pecorino cheese in the mix.
That may be wishful thinking. There’s only one way to prove me right or wrong!
– Jo Cooke, Tastings Editor
