Abruzzo food: Navelli saffron and Sulmona confetti

Abruzzo's flagship protected food is the Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP, grown on the Navelli plateau and in the EU register since February 5, 2005, and its best-known sweet is the Sulmona confetto, made by the town's Poor Clares as early as the 15th century.

Saffron from Navelli: a DOP since 2005

Zafferano dell'Aquila is a DOP grown on the Navelli plateau, and its EU registration dates from February 5, 2005. The agriculture ministry's list of protected names, updated to June 11, 2026, gives it as Abruzzo's flagship product.

Two other Abruzzo names on the same list come from the Fucino basin: Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP, from 2007, and Patata del Fucino IGP, from 2016.

The saffron's harvest dates, yearly output and price per gram aren't among the figures verified for this site. The consortium and the product specification are where to check them before planning a trip around the harvest.

Sulmona: confetti since the 15th century

Sulmona's confetti go back to at least the 15th century, when the Poor Clares of the Santa Chiara monastery made the first bunches of flowers out of sugared almonds. The modern form arrived in the 17th century, when imported sugar made the confetto a luxury.

By 1846² the town had around twelve factories. The technique that set Sulmona apart fixes the sugar to the almond without starch or flour.

The colors still carry a code: pale blue or pink for a birth, red for a graduation, silver and gold for wedding anniversaries. The best-known variety is the Confetto Cannellino, nicknamed "di Leopardi".

All of this comes from the regional tourism body, which cites no archive for the 1846² count or the Leopardi name. Read it as documented tradition rather than as archive fact.

Emigrants made the name travel

The confetto's international reputation was built in the 20th century by Abruzzese emigrants in the United States, Canada and Australia, on the regional body's own account.

If your family left this part of Abruzzo, the bag of confetti at a wedding back home may be the most direct thing it carried with it. For the trip back, see roots travel in Abruzzo.

Wine: three DOCG, the first from 2003

Abruzzo holds three DOCG wines on the 2026 ministry count: Colline Teramane Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Terre Tollesi or Tullum, and Casauria.

Colline Teramane came first, recognized by ministerial decree on February 20, 2003 after being a DOC since 1968. It is made in 31 comuni of the province of Teramo, from the capital to the coast at Giulianova and Pineto, with at least 90% Montepulciano grapes.

Its vineyards may sit no higher than 550³ meters, and yield is capped at 9.5 tonnes per hectare. The name itself was reversed by an EU implementing regulation of October 13, 2023, from Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane to its current order.

The DOCs, and a rosé

The Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo, at Palazzo Corvo in Ortona, groups 191⁴ producers on the count its own site showed in 2026, a figure that moves. Its statute covers five DOCs: Abruzzo, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo and Villamagna.

Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo is one of the few Italian DOCs reserved for a rosé, which makes it the bottle to ask for with a summer lunch on the coast.

Three places, three products

The three names put you in three different parts of the region: the Navelli plateau in the province of L'Aquila for saffron, Sulmona for confetti, and the Teramo hills for Montepulciano.

More in Abruzzo, DOP and IGP, wine denominations and how busy Abruzzo gets.

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