Sometimes it takes an outsiderâs perspective to make us appreciate whatâs right under our noses. A wine obsessive since childhood, Stefano Papetti Ceroni met his future wife Eloisa de Fermo at law school in Bologna. They bonded over a shared passion for wine, but it wasnât until almost a decade after they fell in love that Eloisa took Stefano to her familyâs farm in Abruzzoâs Pescara hillsâa farm that had been in her family for 250 years but to which she had never paid much mind up to that point in her life.Â
Stunned by the propertyâs rich historyâchurch documents show the existence of viticulture there as early as the 9th centuryâStefano felt drawn to the land, spending many weekends there absorbing knowledge from the team who ran the farm and its vineyards. A seed began to germinate in Stefanoâs and Eloisaâs minds, and, feeling the siren song of this remarkable Apennine terroir, they dedicated themselves to transforming De Fermo into a bona fide winery, bottling their first vintage in 2010.
The couple immediately set out to return to pre-chemical methods in De Fermoâs vineyards, adopting biodynamics in 2008 and becoming certified a few years later. The farm itself encompasses nearly 200 hectares, with 17 hectares of grapevines, 20 hectares of olive trees, and large swaths dedicated to vegetables, legumes, herbs, and grazing land for cows; Stefano and Eloisa understand that this biodiversity is a key ingredient in the quality of their wines and work always to nurture it. Among the grapevines, Montepulciano leads plantings with 10 hectares of surface area; Pecorino, a variety Stefano particularly reveres and has been planting more of, encompasses 3.5 hectares; Chardonnay occupies 2.5 hectares; and just under one hectare is planted to Trebbiano. In contrast to the higher-yielding pergola system seen in many of the areaâs vineyards, most of De Fermoâs vines are planted in cordon royat, which severely limits potential yields but produces particularly concentrated and expressive fruit.
Situated in the commune of Loreto Aprutino in the province of Pescara, De Fermoâs vineyards occupy among the best terroirs in all of Abruzzo: stony, steep slopes just a few kilometers south of the legendary Azienda Agricola Valentini. In Stefanoâs skilled handsâassisted since 2015 by our friend Paolo Ravano, who manages vineyards for the likes of Cappellano and Le Boncie as wellâthese vineyards yield wines of uncommon mineral precision and complexity compared to those of their neighbors in the larger region.
De Fermoâs cellar work emphasizes minimal interference, anchored by the intent to produce as pure an expression of their immaculate vineyards as possible. To that end, they employ spontaneous fermentations, keep sulfur dioxide usage to a minimum, and bottle their wines gently and without filtration. A variety of aging vessels are employedâStockinger botti, Garbelotto tonneaux, and concrete (notably, no stainless steel)âbut all serve to provide textural harmony rather than to contribute aromas or flavors. This sort of sensitive, thoughtful low-interventionism allows the wines to locate expressive registers impossible with more strong-fisted methods.
