White Grape · Tuscany

Trebbiano

One name, seven grapes: Trebbiano is Italy's biggest white-wine family, from the neutral Tuscan workhorse that France calls Ugni Blanc to the old-vine whites of Abruzzo.

Trebbiano is a family name, not one grape. Italy's register lists seven white grapes called Trebbiano, and most of them are not related. The Tuscan one is France's Ugni Blanc. The Abruzzo one is behind the region's most prized whites. This page explains the family and points you to each grape's own page.

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Denominations

Before you buy

The words that change the wine

Trebbiano Toscano The Tuscan grape and Italy's most planted Trebbiano. It has its own page: Trebbiano Toscano.
Trebbiano d'Abruzzo A wine, not a grape. The DOC allows Trebbiano Abruzzese and/or Trebbiano Toscano at 85 per cent or more, so these wines stay on this family page.
Trebbiano Abruzzese The Abruzzo grape, registered only in 1994. Its own page: Trebbiano Abruzzese.
Trebbiano di Lugana / Turbiana Lugana's grape on Lake Garda. The site keeps it as Turbiana, with its own page.
Trebbiano di Soave Verdicchio under its Veneto name, used in Soave blends. See the Verdicchio page.
Trebbiano Romagnolo Romagna's own grape, behind Romagna DOC Trebbiano and Rubicone IGT whites. No page yet; its wines sit here.
Trebbiano Spoletino Umbria's grape from the hills around Spoleto and Montefalco. No page yet.
Trebbiano Giallo Lazio's grape, also called Rossetto, in Frascati blends. No page yet.
Ugni Blanc The French name of Trebbiano Toscano. France grows about four times as much as Italy, mostly for Cognac.

The anchor fact: Seven grapes called Trebbiano went through DNA testing in 2001. Only Trebbiano di Soave turned out to be a known grape, Verdicchio, and the register files Trebbiano di Lugana (Turbiana) under the same name. Most of the rest are unrelated grapes that only share a name.

Taste · Where it sits

What it’s actually like in the glass

Forget scores out of five. Here’s Trebbiano described against grapes you already know.

BodyLight and lean
LightFull

Lighter than Verdicchio and Fiano, on a par with Pinot Grigio. Only Trebbiano Abruzzese from old vines, as at Tiberio, puts real weight in the glass.

TanninNone
SoftGrippy

A white family with no grip. The Trebbiano d'Abruzzo made in clay jars, such as Cirelli's, is the one place you feel any texture.

AcidityFresh, sometimes sharp
SoftZippy

Higher than Garganega and Pinot Grigio, close to Verdicchio. Trebbiano Toscano keeps its acid even on the hot Tuscan plain, which is why Cognac makers want it.

Fruit & sweetnessDry, quiet fruit
DrySweet

Lemon and green apple rather than peach or tropical fruit. Dry in every version except Vin Santo, where dried Trebbiano Toscano grapes supply the sweetness.

Key flavours

Lemon
The first thing in most Trebbianos: a sharp lemon note from high acidity in a white sold within a year of the harvest. Strongest in Trebbiano Toscano and Trebbiano Romagnolo.
Green Apple
Trebbiano Romagnolo's calling card: the Rubicone whites taste of unripe apple. In Abruzzo the apple ripens into something rounder.
Pear
The pear belongs to Turbiana and to Lugana, where the grape the locals still call Trebbiano di Lugana gives softer, riper fruit than its Tuscan namesake.
Almond
A bitter-almond finish is the trait the family shares even though most of the grapes are unrelated. Trebbiano Toscano and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo both end that way.
Hay
Dried hay shows in Trebbiano d'Abruzzo with a few years in bottle. It is the note that separates a serious Abruzzo white from a supermarket one.
Wet stones
The stony, salty edge of Trebbiano Abruzzese grown on the limestone and clay hills around Cugnoli. Tiberio's wines show it most.
Racy · Crisp Round · Soft Light-bodied Bold · Full Chardonnay Glera Sauvignon Blanc Pinot Grigio Vermentino Pinot Bianco
Trebbiano

The map

Trebbiano is light to medium, crisp, fresh acidity, mapped against other white grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and freshness resemble Trebbiano.

Trebbianolight to medium, crisp, fresh acidity
Chardonnayfuller, rounder
Gleraa close match
Sauvignon Blanccrisper
Pinot Grigioa close match
Vermentinoa close match
Pinot Biancorounder

Is this for you?

An honest gut-check

Reach for it when…

A white that just works

  • A crisp, cheap Italian white for fried fish or a weeknight pasta
  • Trebbiano d'Abruzzo from Emidio Pepe or Valentini if you want a white to keep
  • Vin Santo, if you like a nutty dessert wine with biscuits

Maybe skip it if…

You’re after something else tonight

  • You want aromatic fruit: Fiano, Falanghina or Gewürztraminer give more
  • You expect every Trebbiano to taste the same: a Lugana and a Rubicone white are different grapes
  • You want oak and richness: most Trebbiano is made in steel and sold young

Serving guide

Pour it at its best

Serve at

8-10°C

8 to 10C for the everyday whites; 10 to 12C for an aged Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, or its hay and honey notes stay hidden.

Decant

Not needed

No. Pour an older Abruzzo bottle an hour before dinner and leave it in the glass.

Glass

Standard White Wine Glass

A standard white glass. The aromas are quiet and a big bowl thins them further.

Drink within

2-3 days

Finish an open bottle in two or three days; the lemon fades fast.

Cellar

1-3 years

Within two years of the harvest for everything under £15. Only the top Abruzzo bottles are built to be kept: Emidio Pepe's 2004 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo is still on sale in London at £225, twenty years on.

On the table

What to eat with Trebbiano

Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.

Brodetto alla giuliese

The Abruzzo match

Brodetto alla giuliese

Giulianova's fish stew is tomato, oil and several kinds of fish. A Trebbiano d'Abruzzo has the acid to cut the oil and no oak to fight the tomato.
Fish and Chips

The Friday-night bottle

Fish and Chips

Batter and salt want a cold, neutral white. A cheap Trebbiano does the lemon wedge's job and costs less than the fish.
Pasta Cacio e Pepe

The Roman table

Pasta Cacio e Pepe

Pecorino and black pepper coat the mouth. Frascati's blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia rinses it clean, which is why the two have shared Roman tables for so long.
Baccala Mantecato

For the Garda grape

Baccala Mantecato

Whipped salt cod is rich and salty. Turbiana from Lugana, the Trebbiano of Lake Garda, has the pear fruit to match it and the acid to clean up.

Buy it · three to start with

Not sure which bottle? Start here

A curated trio across the price range, then every Trebbiano on sale in the UK right now.

Entry · everyday

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOP 'Colle Cavalieri'

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOP 'Colle Cavalieri'

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

1 retailer

£10.88

+ delivery

View Wine

Why this one: Cantina Tollo's co-op Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, about £11: lemon, a touch of almond, and proof that the DOC can be an everyday wine.

The sweet spot

Tiberio Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

Tiberio Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

1 retailer

£21.59

+ delivery

View Wine

Why this one: Tiberio grows Trebbiano Abruzzese from vines up to 90 years old near Cugnoli. About £22, and the clearest taste of the Abruzzo grape on its own.

Special occasion

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Emidio Pepe

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Emidio Pepe

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

2 retailers

£64.37

+ delivery

View Wine

Why this one: Emidio Pepe's Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, from about £64. A 2004 is still on sale in London at £225, more than twenty years on: proof that this family's best whites are made to be kept.

12 of 66 bottles

Denominations

Where it earns a name on the label

The appellations where Trebbiano plays a starring role.

Colli di FaenzaDOC MoliseDOC PugliaIGT SalentoIGT UmbriaIGT Vigneti delle Dolomiti / Weinberg DolomitenIGT

Where it grows

The places it calls home

Tuscany

From galestro hills in Chianti Classico to the single Brunello rise of Montalcino and the sea-facing Cabernets of Bolgheri, Tuscany is Italian wine's stage in Read more

1505 wines · 58 denominations

Abruzzo

Abruzzo runs from Gran Sasso to the Adriatic, turning Montepulciano into dark reds, Cerasuolo rosato and a new wave of Pecorino and Trebbiano whites. Read more

229 wines · 19 denominations

Emilia Romagna

Italy's pasta plains pour fizzy Lambrusco from Modena and Reggio, ageworthy Sangiovese di Romagna, Albana DOCG whites, and Bologna's gentle Pignoletto. Read more

210 wines · 35 denominations

Umbria

Italy's landlocked green heart, where Montefalco Sagrantino brings the deepest tannins on the peninsula and Orvieto's tufa cliffs ripen the country's most Read more

107 wines · 22 denominations

Lazio

Lazio is Frascati country with a serious red side. Volcanic whites from the Castelli Romani, Cesanese on the Ciociaria hills, and a Roma DOC reaching for Read more

66 wines · 36 denominations

Lombardy

From Franciacorta classic-method bubbles to Valtellina mountain Nebbiolo and Lugana lake-cool whites, Lombardy spans 5 DOCGs across roughly 25,000 hectares of Read more

428 wines · 44 denominations

The terroir

One name, many hills. The grape changes with the region, and so does the wine.

Abruzzo

Hills between the Gran Sasso and the Adriatic, Chieti to Teramo

Trebbiano Abruzzese and Trebbiano Toscano, alone or together. The everyday wines are light and lemony; the old-vine bottles from Cugnoli and Loreto Aprutino are the family's most serious whites.

Tuscany

The Chianti hills and the plain towards Empoli

Trebbiano Toscano: a neutral, high-acid white that disappears into blends, and the base of Vin Santo once the grapes have dried on racks.

Lugana, Lake Garda

The clay flats at the south end of Lake Garda

Turbiana, the grape the locals call Trebbiano di Lugana: rounder, with pear and almond, and the one branch of the family that sells under a place name, Lugana.

Producers

The estates that make it

16 estates on the site work with Trebbiano. Eight at a time, and the line-up changes every week.

Tenuta La Viola Est. 1962
Emilia Romagna · Bertinoro

Tenuta La Viola

The Gabellini family has farmed these hills above the Romagna plain since 1962, organic since 1999. Sangiovese and Albana, some of it made in clay amphorae set into the ground, and a tasting under the portico facing the vines.

12wines
Azienda Agricola Ciccio Zaccagnini
Abruzzo · Bolognano

Azienda Agricola Ciccio Zaccagnini

Bolognano estate founded in 1978 and known for the Tralcetto wines: Pecorino, Trebbiano, Cerasuolo and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, each bottle finished with a hand-tied vine twig. Tastings, cellar tours and a permanent contemporary art collection on site.

14wines From £12.30
Casa Vinicola Botter
Veneto · Fossalta di Piave

Casa Vinicola Botter

A wine house near Venice, founded 1928, that buys and blends across Italy. Home of Doppio Passo and Gran Passione.

52wines From £7.61
Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine Est. 1925
Veneto · Verona

Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine

Founded in 1925 by four brothers from Puglia, Pasqua is Verona's self-styled house of the unconventional. The range pairs Amarone della Valpolicella with the Hey French multivintage white and the 11 Minutes rose. Tastings can be booked at its art-filled headquarters.

45wines From £10.25
Torre dei Beati Est. 1999
Abruzzo · Loreto Aprutino

Torre dei Beati

Adriana Galasso and Fausto Albanesi farm 21 certified organic hectares around Loreto Aprutino. The inland Pescara town sits between the Adriatic and the snow line of the Gran Sasso. Their range circles three native grapes: Montepulciano in juicy and Riserva form, Pecorino with bright acidity, and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. The Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Rosa-ae was Gambero Rosso's Rosé of the Year in 2020.

6wines From £16.40
Roccafiore Est. 1999
Umbria · Todi

Roccafiore

Roccafiore is a 15-hectare Baccarelli family estate above Todi, built on Grechetto di Todi clone G5 and Sangiovese on south-east-facing clay and marl slopes. With the Wine Resort and Spa, the Wine Chalet and Ristorante Fiorfiore, it is one of Umbria's easiest cellars to visit. It is certified under VIVA for sustainability and belongs to FIVI.

4wines From £13.70
Azienda Agricola Casale del Giglio Est. 1967
Lazio · Le Ferriere

Azienda Agricola Casale del Giglio

Founded by the Santarelli family in 1967 and reshaped by a 1985 grape trial, Casale del Giglio farms 180 hectares between Aprilia and Latina. Its twenty-two labels run from Bellone and Cesanese to the flagship Syrah-led Mater Matuta.

10wines From £15.50
Buccia Nera
Tuscany · Arezzo

Buccia Nera

The Mancini family's organic farm at Campriano, in the hills north of Arezzo. Its Chianti comes in three styles, beside an orange wine, a sparkling wine finished in the bottle and a red with no added sulphites. Wine tastings start with a vineyard and cellar tour. Five apartments fill the stone farmhouse.

0wines

Editorial

About Trebbiano

The word Trebbiano has been on Italian labels for centuries, and it has never meant one grape. Italy's national register lists Trebbiano Toscano, Trebbiano Abruzzese, Trebbiano Romagnolo, Trebbiano Spoletino, Trebbiano Giallo, Trebbiano Modenese and Trebbiano di Soave as separate varieties. A 2001 DNA study of seven of them found that most do not share a parent. The name probably described a vigorous, productive vine, not a place.

Seven grapes called Trebbiano went through DNA testing in 2001. Only one turned out to be another known grape: Trebbiano di Soave is Verdicchio.

M. Labra and colleagues, Vitis vol. 40, 2001, summarised by Italian Wine Central

Trebbiano Toscano is the big one: about 22,000 hectares in Italy, and France grows about four times as much under the name Ugni Blanc, mostly for Cognac. It makes neutral, crisp whites, the white share of old-style Chianti, and the dried-grape dessert wine Vin Santo del Chianti. It also fills the blends of Orvieto and Frascati.

Trebbiano Abruzzese is a different grape, registered only in 1994. Tiberio grows it from vines up to 90 years old on the limestone hills around Cugnoli in Abruzzo. The Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC allows it and Trebbiano Toscano, alone or together, at 85 per cent or more. The appellation name does not tell you which, so those wines stay on this page.

Trebbiano Giallo, also called Rossetto, is Lazio's own Trebbiano. Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone names it beside Trebbiano Toscano, and Frascati and the Lazio IGT allow both. So a Lazio label that says only Trebbiano may be either grape, and those wines stay on this page too; a producer who names Trebbiano Giallo puts the wine on its own page.

Around Lake Garda the grape called Trebbiano di Lugana is Turbiana, the grape of Lugana. The register files it with Trebbiano di Soave, which the same DNA work showed is Verdicchio, the grape of the Marche and part of the Soave blend. In Romagna the local Trebbiano Romagnolo makes easy whites, often blended with Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio under the Rubicone IGT label. Trebbiano Spoletino, from the hills around Spoleto in Umbria, is the family's rising name but has no page here yet.

How to read these pages: a wine whose rules name the grape sits on that grape's page. A wine that only says Trebbiano sits here. Most are made like any dry white: picked, pressed, fermented cool in steel and sold young.

Good to know

Frequently asked

No. They are different grapes. A supermarket bottle labelled Trebbiano Pinot Grigio is a blend of the two, usually from Romagna or the Veneto. Trebbiano gives the freshness, Pinot Grigio the pear fruit.

Light, dry and crisp, with lemon, green apple and a bitter-almond finish. Most bottles are neutral and made to drink young. A good Trebbiano d'Abruzzo adds hay, a stony edge and more weight.

No, it is a wine. The Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC allows Trebbiano Abruzzese and Trebbiano Toscano, alone or together, at 85 per cent or more. Tiberio, for one, grows the Abruzzese grape from old vines.

Dry, almost always. The exception is Vin Santo, Tuscany's dessert wine from dried grapes, which is often made from Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia. The Abruzzo rules also allow an off-dry style, but few make it.

Rubicone is an IGT zone in Romagna, east of Bologna. A Trebbiano Rubicone is an inexpensive dry white made mainly from Trebbiano Romagnolo. It is the Trebbiano most UK supermarkets sell.

Ugni Blanc is the French name of Trebbiano Toscano. France grows about four times as much as Italy, mostly for distilling into Cognac and Armagnac.

For an everyday white, a Trebbiano d'Abruzzo around £10. For a serious bottle, Tiberio, Emidio Pepe or Valentini from Abruzzo. For Lake Garda, buy Lugana, whose grape is Turbiana.

Explore by style

Wine styles made from Trebbiano

Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.

Keep exploring

More white grapes