96 pts Ian d'Agata
The Tiberio 2023 Pecorino Quarmarì Abruzzo is bright medium-deep straw yellow in colour, with some gold. Captivating aromas of ripe apricot, kiwi, pear, lemon oil, lime curd and sweet spices are complemented by nutty and beeswaxy nuances. Nicely creamy and rich on entry, then more taut and lifted in the middle, there’s harmonious acidity that nicely extends the orchard and citrus fruit flavours on the suave, multilayered aftertaste. The Pecorino vineyard is only about twenty years old, and therefore this wine is not as exceptionally long as it would be, were it made from vieilles vignes, otherwise I would have scored this even higher. Simply put, the 2023 Quarmarì is the best Pecorino Tiberio has ever made, or for that matter the best Pecorino wine anyone has ever made. It is not unlike something that Miani or Dagueneau might have made: is analogies help, then you can think of the Pecorino Quarmarì as a less herbaceous version of Dagueneaus’s Poully-Fumé Buisson Renard (not the Silex or Pur Sang), or like a long-lost twin of Miani’s Saurint Sauvignon bottling. In fact, the Quarmarì ’s beeswaxy and nutty notes also bring Semillon to mind, so if you had said it reminded you of Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, you would get no argument from me. 2025 – 2032 Ian D'Agata Wine Review, October, 2024

Pecorino is an ancient variety that has always called the mountainous Appennine ridges of the Marche and Abruzzo its home. A low yielding variety due to sterility of the basal buds, over the centuries farmers shied away from it preferring instead to plant easier to grow, more productive varieties. Therefore Pecorino was all but forgotten, and nearly extinct by the 1970s. Times change and today high yields are less important than they once were: modern day wine lovers now clamor for high quality grape varieties. This wine is made of just one biotype, Centrale, from a 2.47 acre plot of the 9.39 acre Pecorino planting.

• Vineyard Area: 2.47 acres/1 ha
• Altitude: 1250 feet/380 meters
• Soil: Limestone with marly-clay
• Vine Age: about 23 years
• Vine Training System: Guyot
• Yield: 30 hl

• Hand harvested the end of August
• Free run juice only
• Fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks using only indigenous yeasts
• No malolactic fermentation
• Aged in tank and bottle for 10 months
• Bottled unfined and unfiltered

Named for their beloved Abruzzese sheepdog Quarmari, the 2023 is the inaugural vintage of this singular expression of Pecorino. Deep straw yellow with gold highlights. Captivating aromas of ripe apricot, pear, lemon oil, lime curd and sweet spices. Creamy and rich on the entry, with lifted notes in the mid-palate. A long finish with harmonious acidity that extends the orchard and citrus fruit flavors.

Inaugural release; 100% massal selection Pecorino, biotype Centrale; alcohol: 14%; hilly 2.47 acre estate plot at 1250 feet near Cugnoli, Abruzzo IGP; planted in limestone and marly-clay soil; vines average 23 years; hand harvested end August; fermented in stainless steel tanks using only indigenous yeasts; no malolactic fermentation; aged 10 months in tank and bottle; bottled unfined and unfiltered.