My first visit to Italy was to Abruzzo. I’d wanted to visit Rimini. We went to a travel agent who told us that not only could we not go there, we couldn’t go anywhere in Italy. Instead we could go to Rhodes. Nowhere but Rhodes. It was the late 1990s; we plugged our home computer into the phone line, dialled into the internet and bought flights to Abruzzo & booked a hotel by email. We never used a travel agent again and that shop closed a long time ago. Abruzzo was wild, friendly, beautiful and where we stayed wasn’t used to English tourists – we had a great time eating and drinking like locals who were very welcoming. It was the start of my love for Italy and I’ve been back every year. This wine has nothing to do with the cheese – the name is derived from a slang word for sheep; they like to eat the grapes. I liked this wine and it seemed like good value for money.

Tasting notes: Pale straw colour. Citrus notes (grapefruit, lemon) and orchard fruits.  Dry.

Region of Origin – Abruzzo
Wine Colour – White
Price – £6.50
Where do I get it from? Tesco
Current Vintage – 2016
Producer – Codiec Citra
Grape – Pecorino
Country – Italy
Points – 89

Food Pairing: We had this with pizza but it would go equally well with creamy pasta dishes.