Cantina Indigeno Boccia Bianco 2022

Cantina Indigeno was founded in 2016 in Montorio al Vomano, in the Teramo hills of Abruzzo, by four friends: Alfredo Giugno, Nicola Reginaldi, Fabio Petrella, and Loreto Lamolinara. None of them started as winemakers. Alfredo worked as an accountant and was already fermenting beer as a hobby; Loreto had been distributing craft beers; together they opened a microbrewery called La Casa di Cura (The Sanatorium) in Crognaleto in 2013. The link to wine came through Nicola, a sommelier and pub owner in Teramo who had become absorbed by the natural wine world and brought the group toward grape fermentation. Fabio completed the founding team.

Their early winemaking was shaped in part by their proximity to the Lammidia winery, whose team offered guidance at the outset. Cantina Indigeno began by renting neglected old vineyards planted with Montepulciano and Trebbiano, working the land organically from the start. Production started at around 5,000 bottles in 2016, reaching approximately 25,000 bottles within two years as the team acquired additional vineyard access.

Today Cantina Indigeno manages around 9 hectares of organically certified vines near Teramo, predominantly planted with 30-year-old vines on calcareous clay and stony limestone soils. Their cellar practice is consistent across the range: spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts, no temperature control, no fining or filtration, and no added sulfites at any stage. Fermentation and aging take place in fiberglass tanks, stainless steel, and occasionally amphorae.

The portfolio covers a range of styles, from the skin-contact Bianco Folk and Sub Trebbiano Orange to the Boccia Rosso One Liter Montepulciano. The Boccia line, in its one-liter format, sits at the direct, table-ready end of their range: maximum approachability, minimum intervention, full Abruzzese character.

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Abruzzo occupies a strip of central Italy between the Apennine Mountains to the west and the Adriatic Sea to the east, covering four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. The province of Teramo, in the north of the region, contains some of the most prized vineyard land in Abruzzo. The Colline Teramane (Teramo hills) are recognized by the DOCG for Montepulciano d'Abruzzo at the top of the regional quality hierarchy, and the Controguerra DOC in the hills near the northern border also falls within Teramo's boundaries.

Cantina Indigeno's vineyards are located around Montorio al Vomano, a town in the upper Vomano river valley roughly 8 kilometers from the Adriatic coast. The terrain is hilly, with calcareous clay soils shaped by rivers flowing west to east from the Apennine foothills toward the sea. Elevations in the area range from around 200 to 500 meters, and viticulture here sits in a zone where continental mountain influences and Adriatic maritime conditions overlap. Warm sunny days allow ripening while cool nights and regular sea breezes preserve the natural acidity that characterizes Trebbiano and Pecorino at their best.

The Apennines to the west, dominated by the Gran Sasso massif peaking at 2,912 meters, block Atlantic weather systems while funneling cold air downward at night. This diurnal temperature variation is a defining factor in why the northern Teramo hills produce whites and reds with more structural tension than the warmer southern flatlands of Chieti.

Abruzzo's viticultural history stretches back to antiquity. The region's two flagship varieties, Montepulciano and Trebbiano, account for the bulk of plantings, though a growing natural wine movement centered around producers in the Teramo hills has drawn international attention to indigenous white varieties including Pecorino, Malvasia, and the rare Montonico. Producers like Emidio Pepe and Edoardo Valentini defined Teramo's identity for decades; a newer generation is now extending that work under a minimal-intervention philosophy.

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