My wife and I traveled to Roseto this summer and learned that the area is in drought conditions and cannot support viniculture. No one I met in Roseto, could remember it ever being a grape growing region. We did have some of the home-made wines, which are standard in country restaurants in Italy (every restauranteur it seems, is a frustrated wine maker) but did not see the quality one finds in commercial offerings. We did go to Montalcino and Montepulciano, and are now fans on Brunello di Montalcino.

Our greatest disappointment was the loss of the crispy, dry, white Italian wine. The type of very dry white wines only available from Italy, Spain and Portugal. Well, they are no longer available in Italy. It seems that all of Italy has gone over to malo-lactic fermentation on their white wines, presumably because the big market is for Chardonnay. We are ABC people (anything but chardonnay). Hope this helps.

Pat Pappano