Abruzzo has never been a wealthy region. Agriculture here has always been about survival, not prestige.

But wines like Tiberio Archivio are changing that reputation, and show you the potential of an oak-aged Montepulciano made in the right hands with the best fruit.

The fruit comes from winemaker Cristiana’s oldest vineyard, planted 65 years ago on clay soils. The vines are trained double pergula-style, forcing their roots deep in search of water and minerals, giving lower yields and more concentrated fruit.

This is the only wine that Cristiana ages in oak. She tells me the clay gives the grapes rustic edge, which rounded out by 12 months’ ageing in oak barrels.

The nose is dark and brooding, with beautiful red fruit and savoury notes. On the palate it’s silky, elegant and poised, with black fruit, leather, spice and an impressive long finish.

Cristiana is exactly the type of winemaker I built WineSpark for - incredible talent, unmatched passion, and quality and value in spades.

And Tiberio Archivio is the perfect expression of that vision.

Due to extremely limited supply, there's a limit of two bottles per customer on this wine.