Today’s Monti Guidi Del Carmine 2011 Terre di Cheiti Pecorino is a mouthwatering Itailian delight from the east coast of Italy, near the Adriatic.

This wine is a really food-friendly treat, but sipped alone it is a stunner. With just a touch of sweetness that presents on the front palate on first sip, this wine starts sweet but turns almost instantly crisp and slightly dry as a lovely acidity spreads to the far corners of the palate.

Abruzzo is the ancestral home of Pecorino, a grape that was believed to have been a wild-growing varietal that was eventually domesticated. While there is no relation to the Italian cheese of the same name, legend has it that sheep (_ pecora_ in Italian) would graze on the vines as they grazed across the Sibillini Mountains where the grape was thought to have originated.

Enjoy this budget-priced and very highly recommended wine with a wide variety of food pairings, or sip it all on its own. Salute!