Pecorino

Pecorino is a white grape from the Marche and Abruzzo in central Italy, grown in the hills near the Apennines. It was nearly extinct until the 1980s, when it was rescued from a few old vines in the Offida area; it now has its own DOCG, Offida Pecorino. The grape ripens early and naturally keeps high acidity and fairly high alcohol, giving full-bodied but fresh whites with notes of citrus, yellow apple, sage, anise and a mineral, slightly bitter finish. The name, from the Italian for sheep, is usually said to come from the flocks that grazed the vineyards.