Pairing: Enjoy it well chilled and on its own, with chips and guacamole, street tacos, grilled shrimp, spaghetti and clams, goat cheese and arugula salad, or grilled vegetable skewers. You could also try the “fresh and fried” route for something different and fun; fried zucchini or squash blossom empanadas, or fresh fish and chips will work wonderfully as pairings. Goat's milk cheeses, including ricotta, are plentiful in Abruzzo where this wine comes from; with that in mind as inspiration, we’re sharing the following pasta recipe.

Summer Pasta With Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil By David Tanis

About. ‘Il Mostro’ was conceived as a new experimental project from Poggio Anima. The names of the wines are derived from children’s bedtime warnings throughout Europe. This is a single-vineyard wine from the Monteodorisio Vineyard in Chieti, Abruzzo. The Marchesani family has been farming this since the mid-1960s and following the marriage of Sebastano Jasci to Lucia Marchesani, the newly married couple embarked on a new frontier of higher quality farming. Sebastiano pushed for organic farming and became one of the first certified organic vineyards in Italy in 1978. Today their son Nicola has taken over the business side of things, and his wife Federica manages the winemaking.

‘Ragana’ is an ancient pre-Indo-European spirit and a powerful prophetess who reveals the future. She is best known in the Baltic states and is thought to rule over fertility and regeneration and is the guardian of nature’s cycles: creation, growth, decline and destruction. In many ways she is the spirit of balance. It is this encompassing life cycle which inspired this vinous concoction.