Wine with Leslie: Underrated wines and cuisines from the Abruzzo and Marche regions of Italy

I cannot recommend Abruzzo and Marche highly enough, not just the underrated wines but also the cuisine

Leslie Williams: "For the fish, we drank pecorino whites and I recommend a bargain version from Dunnes." Picture: iStock.

Just over a year ago, I spent a very happy 10 days in Abruzzo with some excursions into the neighbouring region of Marche. These two regions of Italy are a little less accessible and less popular with tourists (thankfully) and I cannot recommend them highly enough, not just the underrated wines but also the cuisine.

In Abruzzo, I had fresh fish nearly every day straight from the Adriatic, delicious fritto-misto squid and prawns, but also simply pan-fried or steamed white fish. I must have eaten a couple of hundred arrosticini lamb skewers, cubes of mountain lamb simply grilled and seasoned (they usually cost €1-€1.20 each), plus of course al dente pasta with lobster and seafood on fancy days, and with tiny meatballs on the other days.