Wine: Best Producers: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Italy
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo today is one of the world's best values in dry red wines. Grown in the central Italian province of Abruzzi, a mountainous region with a long coastline on the Adriatic, montepulciano yields a dark, rich, flavorful wine with excellent balancing acidity. It is often described as having a distinctive gamey note, though some of the best examples are now being aged in oak barrels. Amazingly, the vast majority of these consistently pleasing reds can be had for less than ten dollars--a bargain indeed.
