Tiberio Fonte Canale Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2023
100pts Ian d'Agata
Drinking Window 2027 - 2040
Is the 2023 Fonte Canale the best one ever made? I used to think that was a battle between the 2015 and 2018 Fonte Canales especially, but the more I retaste this wine the more I think it is not only at their level, but has surpassed them with age. Perhaps it has to do that , for the first time, Cristiana Tiberio decided to press the skins in an effort to extract even more (using 600 millibars of pressure, still very low) but it has to be done with care because the thick leafy canopy left in place to protect Trebbiano Abruzzese’s thin skins from sunburn so you just can’t go and press to your heart’s content (or if the vines were Guyot-trained). In any case, pressing the grapes now that the growing season has been shortened because of climate change is necessary, but at Tiberio they do it well and carefully. It shows in the superlative 2023 Fonte Canale, one of the best Italian white wines ever made.
Bright full straw-yellow. Deep, ripe aromas of mirabelle, yellow apple, pear, and spring flowers are more or less the same as always, but have a little more intensity to them. Then wonderfully vibrant and fine-grained, with terrific nuances of ginger and white floral lift to the fruit-forward orchard and citrus fruit and mineral flavors. This is bigger and denser than other recent Fonte Canales and will require longer to express itself fully but it’s clearly a fantastic wine already now. The wonderfully vibrant, palate-staining aftertaste is perked up by a note of lime oil, iodine and flinty minerality, complicated by hints of jasmine and lemon verbena. The 2023 is the first ever Fonte Canale not to be labeled as a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, as the Tiberio family has decided, not unreasonably, to exit the denomination and this iconic Italian wine will from now on be labeled as an IGT Colline Pescaresi. A 100% Trebbiano Abruzzese wine made with grapes picked from what are now almost centenary vines. 2027 – 2039 - Ian D'Agata Wine Review, December, 2025
96-98pts Vinous Media
Drinking Window 2027 - 2040
The 2023 Bianco Fonte Canale, still a year away from release, is a model of grace and understated power. This is youthfully coy at first, requiring coaxing to release its perfumed bouquet of white smoke, flint stone, wild flowers and raw almonds. The 2023 sweeps across the palate with a cool-toned personality and an inner floral resonance, with intense notes of nectarine and papaya. This finishes crystalline and gently tannic in feel, with salty mineral tones lingering long. The depth of concentration here finds balance by way of tantalizing acidity. This is one of the most complex interpretations of Fonte Canale I've tasted. It may be a masterpiece in the making. Of note, as of 2023, the Fonte Canale will no longer be classified as Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, but instead as an IGT. - By Eric Guido on May 2025
Varietal: 100% massal selection Trebbiano Abruzzese
Altitude: 380 meters a.s.l. – 1200 feet a.s.l.
Soil Composition: Limestone, marly-clay with limestone over a sandstone-rich bedrock
Vine Training System: Canopy
Vine Age: 80-90 years
Vinification: No press, just free run juice in stainless steel tanks
Aging: In stainless steel tank and bottle. (NO OAK)
Original: $144.99
-70%$144.99
$43.50
Description
100pts Ian d'Agata
Drinking Window 2027 - 2040
Is the 2023 Fonte Canale the best one ever made? I used to think that was a battle between the 2015 and 2018 Fonte Canales especially, but the more I retaste this wine the more I think it is not only at their level, but has surpassed them with age. Perhaps it has to do that , for the first time, Cristiana Tiberio decided to press the skins in an effort to extract even more (using 600 millibars of pressure, still very low) but it has to be done with care because the thick leafy canopy left in place to protect Trebbiano Abruzzese’s thin skins from sunburn so you just can’t go and press to your heart’s content (or if the vines were Guyot-trained). In any case, pressing the grapes now that the growing season has been shortened because of climate change is necessary, but at Tiberio they do it well and carefully. It shows in the superlative 2023 Fonte Canale, one of the best Italian white wines ever made.
Bright full straw-yellow. Deep, ripe aromas of mirabelle, yellow apple, pear, and spring flowers are more or less the same as always, but have a little more intensity to them. Then wonderfully vibrant and fine-grained, with terrific nuances of ginger and white floral lift to the fruit-forward orchard and citrus fruit and mineral flavors. This is bigger and denser than other recent Fonte Canales and will require longer to express itself fully but it’s clearly a fantastic wine already now. The wonderfully vibrant, palate-staining aftertaste is perked up by a note of lime oil, iodine and flinty minerality, complicated by hints of jasmine and lemon verbena. The 2023 is the first ever Fonte Canale not to be labeled as a Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, as the Tiberio family has decided, not unreasonably, to exit the denomination and this iconic Italian wine will from now on be labeled as an IGT Colline Pescaresi. A 100% Trebbiano Abruzzese wine made with grapes picked from what are now almost centenary vines. 2027 – 2039 - Ian D'Agata Wine Review, December, 2025
96-98pts Vinous Media
Drinking Window 2027 - 2040
The 2023 Bianco Fonte Canale, still a year away from release, is a model of grace and understated power. This is youthfully coy at first, requiring coaxing to release its perfumed bouquet of white smoke, flint stone, wild flowers and raw almonds. The 2023 sweeps across the palate with a cool-toned personality and an inner floral resonance, with intense notes of nectarine and papaya. This finishes crystalline and gently tannic in feel, with salty mineral tones lingering long. The depth of concentration here finds balance by way of tantalizing acidity. This is one of the most complex interpretations of Fonte Canale I've tasted. It may be a masterpiece in the making. Of note, as of 2023, the Fonte Canale will no longer be classified as Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, but instead as an IGT. - By Eric Guido on May 2025
Varietal: 100% massal selection Trebbiano Abruzzese
Altitude: 380 meters a.s.l. – 1200 feet a.s.l.
Soil Composition: Limestone, marly-clay with limestone over a sandstone-rich bedrock
Vine Training System: Canopy
Vine Age: 80-90 years
Vinification: No press, just free run juice in stainless steel tanks
Aging: In stainless steel tank and bottle. (NO OAK)
