Beyond the wines from those two producers, montepulciano is thought to be “generally a workhorse grape,” as Ian D’Agata put it in his excellent “Native Wine Grapes of Italy,” though he also suggested it had “thoroughbred potential.”

Montepulciano is popular enough to be the fourth-most-planted grape in Italy, after sangiovese; trebbiano, a white found all over Italy; and catarratto, a white found solely in Sicily. Most of the montepulciano is found along the Adriatic Coast, largely in Abruzzo but also in Marche to the north and Puglia to the south.

This is the less-traveled coast of Italy, at least among Americans, who seem far more acquainted with Rome, Naples and the Amalfi Coast than they are with the Adriatic cities of Ancona and Bari. Maybe this unfamiliarity contributes to the lack of general enthusiasm about Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, but in my experience, it has been the style of the wines themselves that limits the enthusiasm.

In the recent era, when wine critics worshiped at the altar of power and density, many montepulciano producers tried to prove their thoroughbred bona fides with opulent richness and an overreliance on new oak barrels. It was a disastrous equation that resulted in jammy, oaky, tannic wines that for me, at least, were not worth seeking out.

But Montepulciano d’Abruzzo has a longer tradition of juicy, inexpensive wines that are uncomplicated and cheap. Often, these wines were made by the large cooperatives that dominated the region. But in recent years, more small, serious producers have appeared, and the overall quality of the wines has risen.