Est. 1998 
4 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Accommodation
Booking required
Wine area
Inland Pescara and Peligna valleys
The inland valleys connect Montepulciano to altitude, limestone and cooler nights.
Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale
Valle Reale is a mountain wine estate at Popoli in Abruzzo, where the Gran Sasso, Majella and Sirente-Velino parks meet. The Pizzolo family started it in 1998 by reviving a Montepulciano vineyard planted in 1960. Its vines grow at 350 metres and above, and more than half are certified organic. The wines are Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo and a Cerasuolo rosé, fermented only with native yeasts since 2007. A two-hour visit ends with four wines and local food, and three rooms among the vines take guests overnight.
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Abruzzo
- Est. 1998
- 4 wines
- Tastings
- Tours
- Accommodation
- Booking required
Wines from Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale
About Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale
The Pizzolo family, farmers for generations, decided in 1998 to bring back an old vineyard on land they owned near Popoli, in the valley below the mountains. It had been planted in 1960 on the Abruzzo pergola, and its previous owners had let it go. With Professor Leonardo Valenti of the University of Milan they studied where Montepulciano d'Abruzzo came from. The oldest traces of the grape turned up in untouched mountain spots near the estate. The old vineyard became San Calisto, the estate's first cru, and the parent of every vine since: buds cut from its best plants were grafted for the new vineyards. The project continues today with what the estate calls a motivated group of like-minded people.
The vines grow on a plain at 350 metres, facing south-east, where the sun rises over the Majella and Morrone mountains. Mountains stand all round them. Three parks meet here: the Gran Sasso to the north, the Majella to the south and the Sirente-Velino to the north-west. The springs of the Pescara river are a short distance away. The estate farms 46 hectares in all, about 64 football pitches, split between Popoli and Capestrano, a few kilometres away towards L'Aquila. More than half is certified organic and the rest is in conversion. Nights are cold even in summer, as air slides down from the Gran Sasso, and the days are warm. That swing keeps the grapes fresh and fragrant. At Popoli ripening is so slow that picking rarely starts before November. At Capestrano, on the Plain of Ofena, known locally as the oven of Abruzzo, the same grapes ripen two or three weeks earlier.
Each vineyard has a name and a character. San Calisto, the 1960 vines on the old trellis, gives a wine only in the best years and only from the highest part of the plot. Its cold winds and high acidity make a Montepulciano that needs years in bottle. Sant'Eusanio is a small vineyard among pine woods at 497 metres, the highest and coldest, planted in 2002 and facing north. Its Montepulciano is all freshness. In the best years a parcel of it makes two Cerasuolo rosés, one from grapes picked at night and one made the traditional way. The vineyard of Popoli grows Trebbiano on the valley floor, with the Pescara river flowing below. At Capestrano, planted in 2003 on stony ground with more clay, a strip of Trebbiano overlooks a spring of the Tirino, one of the cleanest rivers in Europe. The Convent vineyard, on land that belonged to the friary of St Francis above Capestrano, gives the estate's most powerful Montepulciano.
Since 2007 the wines have fermented only with their own native yeasts, with no bought yeast added. The estate calls it letting nature speak for herself. It took years of trials to get there. Luciana Biondo watched the vineyards, and Giulio Vecchio ran experiments on grapes from different plots. Enrico Antonioli, a winemaker trained in Burgundy, perfected the starter: a small batch of the estate's own grapes, fermented first and used to set the rest going. Beside the offices, a biodynamic garden the size of nearly three football pitches grows old Abruzzo varieties of grain, vegetables and legumes. It is part of a regional scheme to save seeds at risk of disappearing.
Visitors get about two hours. A walk in the vineyards comes first, then the historic archive, where the estate's story is told through its soils and climate. The tasting is four wines with local food. The bread is baked by chef Niko Romito from Solina and Saragolla grains. The olive oil comes from the Valentini farm, and the cheeses from the shepherd Gregorio Rotolo of Valle Scannese. It costs 60 euro a person and is arranged by contact. The San Calisto guesthouse, two rooms and a suite set among the vines, includes breakfast and the same tasting in the price of a night. Among the Popoli vines stands Sant'Angelo Extra Muros, a cellar built in the 12th century by Benedictine monks. Its three levels were worked by gravity, and a 20-metre gallery is cut into the rock. Restored from late 2025, it can be visited free of charge, by appointment, from January to August.
Plate I · ABRUZZO
Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale on the Abruzzo wine atlas
Winery
Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale
Popoli, Pescara · Inland Pescara and Peligna valleys
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
1 bookable experience at Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale
1 stay, checked by our editors. From €240.
Accommodation
Valle Reale, Popoli
Stay at San Calisto, the guesthouse among the vines
From €240 a night, breakfast and tasting included
Two rooms and a suite in a two-level country house surrounded by the estate's vineyards. A night includes a homemade breakfast with produce from the estate's garden and the two-hour wine experience. Reached from the Bussi-Popoli exit of the Pescara to Rome motorway.
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Tasting & Tour
Valle Reale, Popoli
Vineyard walk, archive and tasting of four wines
About 2 hours
€60 a person
About two hours: a walk through the vineyards, then the estate's historic archive, where its story is told through soil and climate. The tasting is four wines with bread by chef Niko Romito, Valentini olive oil and cheeses from the shepherd Gregorio Rotolo.
Ask us to arrange this visit
We contact the estate for you
Tour
Valle Reale, Popoli
Sant'Angelo Extra Muros, the monks' 12th-century cellar
Free, by appointment
A free visit, by appointment, to the restored medieval cellar among the Popoli vines: three levels worked by gravity and a 20-metre gallery cut into the rock. Monday to Thursday, 10 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon, January to August. Write to the estate to book.
Ask us to arrange this visit
We contact the estate for you
For enquiries, use the phone number and email in Plan your visit.
Plan your visit
Località S. Calisto, 65026 Popoli, Pescara (Abruzzo)
What Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale makes
Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale's current bottle selection is led by Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC. The clearest grape signal comes from Trebbiano and Montepulciano.
Common questions
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At San Calisto, just outside Popoli in the province of Pescara, where the Peligna valley begins. The vines sit at 350 metres and above, between the Gran Sasso park to the north and the Majella park to the south. By car, leave the Pescara to Rome motorway at the Bussi-Popoli exit. Sulmona is not far.
Plan a visit
Ask us to arrange your visit to Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale
This form reaches the ItalianWines.co.uk team, not the winery. Tell us when you would like to come and how many you are: we contact Azienda Vinicola Valle Reale for you and come back with availability and prices, usually within two working days.
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