Wine road and Frentano villages: from the sea to the hills

Behind the Costa dei Trabocchi rise the Frentano hills, one of Abruzzo’s most generous wine lands: deep, full-bodied Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, crisp white Trebbiano, fresh rosé Cerasuolo. This driving loop starts from the sea at Torino di Sangro and climbs inland, among abbeys, medieval villages and family wineries.

The first stop is the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere, poised among olive groves above Fossacesia. Then Lanciano, a town of art famous for its Eucharistic Miracle and for the Diocletian Bridge that crosses the old centre. You climb to Castel Frentano, home of the bocconotto — a shortcrust pastry filled with chocolate, almonds and cinnamon — and drop down to a Frentano-hills winery for a tasting.

It’s a journey through flavours too: besides the wine, the extra-virgin olive oil of the Colline Teatine PDO, the ventricina of the Vastese, the pecorino cheeses, the ferratelle. You head back to the sea at sunset, with a few bottles in the boot.

An easy itinerary, all by car, perfect as a half or full day. Book the wineries in advance (they are small, family-run) and appoint a teetotal driver.

Good to know

• Book the wineries ahead: they are small, family-run estates. Among the best known locally, Citra and Fantini (Ortona)
• Autumn (the harvest, September–October) is the most evocative season among the vines
• Worth tasting: bocconotto from Castel Frentano, ventricina of the Vastese, pecorino, Colline Teatine PDO olive oil
• Short distances: sea → abbey ~10 min, abbey → Lanciano ~15 min, Lanciano → Castel Frentano ~10 min
• Appoint a teetotal driver for the tastings

Best time: Autumn (September–October) for the harvest; lovely in spring too

How to do it: by car