Azienda Agricola Valentini

Widely regarded as Abruzzo’s greatest winemaker, Edoardo Valentini produced wine commercially from the 1956 vintage until his death in 2006 at the age of 72. Over the course of his half-century career, his reputation among connoisseurs of fine Italian wines grew as bottles of his Montepulciano, Cerasuolo, and Trebbiano found their way onto tables and into tastings all over the world. His unique approach to working with vines that many in the wine community considered inferior, combined with his eccentric personality, helped solidify his legendary status. However, it was the exceptional quality of his wines that truly cemented his reputation as one of Italy’s finest natural winemakers.

Having given up a career in law, Valentini returned with his family to their ancestral home in the village of Loreto Aprutino, about a half hour inland from Pescara. There, he tended to around 60 hectares of land under vines, spread across several vineyard sites, as well as hundreds of acres planted with fruit trees and olives. While farming contributed significantly to his livelihood, life in the rural village also allowed him to pursue both agriculture and winemaking as intellectual passions. Valentini was famously reluctant to share details of his cellar techniques, but the consistent quality of his wines over the decades attests to his disciplined practices and unyielding commitment to excellence.

Notoriously reclusive when it came to media attention, Valentini disregarded wine marketing and shunned the spotlight. Consequently, much of what we know about him and his wines only adds to the mystique surrounding both. Since Edoardo Valentini’s passing, his son Francesco Paolo, along with his wife Elèna and son Gabriele, has carried on the production of the family’s revered wines with the same dedication and precision. Tasting the wines today, it is clear that the Valentini legacy remains strong and is in capable hands.