IL Postcard

An Italian Vineyard of Your Own for Less Than $100,000

Date: 04/03/2008

Friday, April 4, 2008

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Two hours east of Rome, hemmed by the glittering Adriatic, Abruzzo offers dreamy hill towns, tiny farms, ruggedly wild countryside, and the diamond-bright peaks of the Apennines. Most towns and mountain villages are within an hour’s drive of sandy beaches.

Hot summers, cold winters. During my February visit, the air was scented with wood-smoke. Everyone wore woolly scarves, but skies were always blue. If places with four distinct seasons appeal, Abruzzo may fit the bill.

Particularly if you can’t decide between lakes, mountains, hill towns, and coast—Abruzzo has the lot. In April, you can ski Roccaraso’s slopes in the morning and lie on the Adriatic’s beaches in the afternoon.

Never heard of Abruzzo? Well, it’s where Italy’s central regions end and the south starts. Abruzzo belongs to the mezzogiorno, the lazy-day lands of the midday sun.

Italy’s south is a realm of fishing communities and small farms, where self-sufficiency remains a way of life. Families keep chickens, make their own wine, grow olives, and press the oil. Although Pescara has plenty of industry, Abruzzo has no factory megalopolis like Turin, no finance-and-fashion base like Milan.

Its palazzos might be faded, its castles crumbling, but its unsung hill towns are as picturesque as those in Tuscany or Umbria. And, in my opinion, their lack of busloads of annoying tourists makes them all the better. Often crowned with castles or watchtowers, most feature cobblestone streets, arched passageways, and heavenly mountain vistas.

Explore larger villages like Loreto Aprutino and Alanno and you may wonder why they’re not overrun with tourists. The thing is, most travelers always flock to where guidebooks point them. Abruzzo rarely warrants a mention.

Here you can still get wine and a two-course lunch for $13.50, a fabulous range of wood-oven pizzas for less than $8.25, and a liter carafe of wine for $6. I doubt this is the case in Tuscany. Whether it’s hearty bean soups, rosemary-scented lamb, home-made maccheroni alla chitarra (pasta rolled through a stringed board and cut thin as guitar strings), or pizza sprinkled with black truffle shavings, the food in Abruzzo is to die for.

The hoot of owls, a night full of stars. A third of the region is protected by national park status. Spring, when wildflower meadows burst into full glory, must be a picture book. Even in February, the ground dazzled in carpets of white daisy-like flowers and tiny blue speedwells. In sheltered valleys, almond trees were already blossoming.

Hills are criss-crossed with old droving paths and riding trails; I dined with one expat living in Introdacqua whose horse accompanied her from England. Trout streams, clear as crystal, cascade from hidden sources in the Apennines. Birds of prey circle above mountain hermitages. Its dense beech and pine woods are home to roe deer, brown bears, and even wolves. In remoter parts, big white Maremmano-Abruzzese sheepdogs guard flocks from predators.

Abruzzo even has a spa town. Caramanico Terme has been known for its spas since the 16th century. This place isn’t unknown—certainly not to visitors from Rome and Naples.

There’s an Italy for everyone. Even an Italy for those with ultra-tight budgets.

An example of Abruzzo’s exceptionally cheap properties is this listing I’ve taken from one of my recommended contacts:

“Small furnished house (40 square meters) in a historic mountain village. It has one bedroom, living/dining room, kitchen and bathroom, plus basement and a balcony. The house has no garden area or view, but is near shops and the village center. Price: $27,000.”

That’s about as low as you’ll go for something habitable, but it’s no one-off. Many more sizeable village houses are astoundingly inexpensive. Armed with a budget of $100,000, you’ll find plenty of habitable homes. A lick of paint, some new floor covering, and you’re set. Prices seem stuck in a time warp from at least a quarter of a century ago.

The dream of owning a vineyard often crosses wine-lovers’ minds. And where better than among some of Italy’s most beautiful medieval hill towns? Imagine pressing your own grapes, then lounging on a shady terrace, sampling last year’s vintage.

It needn’t remain a fantasy. There’s one location, in a lovely but almost unknown region, where a small vineyard costs $97,500. And no reason to dither over red or white. This one is planted with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Trebbiano vines. You’ve got both.

The vineyard I’m picturing is near a village called Introdacqua, and the half-acre plot of land also has a single-story dwelling. Although needing refurbishment, its roof and walls are sound. With basic building costs around $83 to $111 per square foot, it wouldn’t cost a fortune to fix.

Steenie Harvey
Roving Europe Editor, International Living

Editor’s note: To read Steenie’s entire writeup on the medieval magic of Italy’s hill towns, check out the April issue of International Living magazine. It contains Steenie’s favorite properties in Abruzzo for less than $100,000…and the real estate contacts you’ll need to learn more. Sign up to get the IL magazine…and instant access to the April issue.

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