Rolling up to Pasetti just south of where Pescara commune melts into Francavilla al Mare (Francavilla by the Sea), a wine professional may be struck by low-key profile of the winemaking facility.

But then, once the pleasantries are out of the way, you meet that tour-de-force of life otherwise known as Laura Pasetti, the family’s matriarch.

Where I grew up, they called it chutzpah. In the Bronx, they call it moxy. Whatever you call it, Ms. Laura has a contagious energy and warmth that inextricably draw you into her universe.

I wish you could see and hear me trying to keep up with her as I interpreted for her and our dream team group of sommeliers led by James Tidwell. They don’t prepare you at the UN for that much dynamism and drive! (I worked for a year as a UN interpreter way back in the day.)

More than two decades ago, the Pasetti family made the decision to sell their vineyards near the sea in Francavilla and buy inland vineyard sites at high altitudes in the shadow of the Maiella and Gran Sasso massifs.

If you look carefully at the photo above, the cloud line in the distance gives you a sense of how high this site lies. And just look at the limestone in that vineyard!

As Ms. Laura recounts it, the Pasetti family recognized the challenges of climate change early on and made a conscious decision to head to the hills, so to speak. Today, that gamble has paid off in ways that no one could imagine.

Their wines — especially their flagship Testarossa line — are among the best I’ve tasted from Abruzzo. The Montepulciano in particular has a freshness and drinkability that dance over the wine’s richness.

Ms. Laura’s son Davide is the family’s winemaker and there is perhaps no one better in explaining how Montepulciano’s high levels of malvidin (one of the five main anthocyanins) make it unique among red grapes. Its rich color gives the Abruzzo winemaker a broad palette, he explained. And you can achieve even dark color without over-extracting the wine.

I loved the family and the wines. And I highly recommend them to you. Fyi Ms. Laura is looking for a new importer in the U.S. after her longtime importer retired.