«The noble motivation ,nevertheless, is that the wine from Marche have that what we call in Italy genius loci. That means that wines from Marche are scientifivaly distinguishable, typical and there are not reproducible in sensory profile. The wine from Marche has character , as Vernaccia di Serrapetrona, Verdicchio di Matelica, Lacrima di Morro d’Alba in-between of hundreds of whites and a hundreds of reds is absolutely recognizable. Today the added value of a wine is this one : to make wines good and recognizable at the same time .»
Roberto Potentini
Principal areas of production of wines from Marche
At the Marche region today there are situated 5 areas of DOCG and 15 of DOC. At the center of region, between provinces of Ancona and Macerata, there are most important areas of wine production . At the province of Ancona, between Jesi and Matelica, the area of production par excellence of Verdicchio is located; always at the inland of province of Ancona, we could discovered the area of production of Lacrima di Morro d’Alba while facing the area of Mare Adriatico there is located the area of production of Rosso Conero. Inside of province of Macerata, we have area of Comune di Serrapetrona wellknown for the production of one particular autochthonous Vernaccia which was named by the name of the same locality , Vernaccia di Serrapetrona.
DOCG
- Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva
- Conero
- Offida
- Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva
- Vernaccia di Serrapetrona
DOC
- Bianchello del Metauro
- Colli Maceratesi
- Colli Pesaresi
- Esino
- Falerio
- I Terreni di Sanseverino
- Lacrima di Morro ďAlba
- Pergola
- Rosso Conero
- Rosso Piceno
- San Ginesio
- Serrapetrona
- Terre di Offida
- Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
- Verdicchio di Matelica
The main autochthonous white grape of the region is Verdicchio, followed by Pecorino, Passerina, Biancame and finally Maceratino ( aka Ribona ). Others grapes with white berries cultivated at area are : Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia Bianca di Candia and Malvasia Bianca Lunga.
The another white grape cultivated at Marche is Incrocio Bruni 54 , the grape created in 1936 by Prof. Bruni, a cross between the variety Sauvignon and Verdicchio. Also this grape is cultivated mostly in the area between province of Ancona and Macerata. The smell of this wine reminds Sauvignon Blanc with scents of white flowers ,a passion fruit and melone.
Verdicchio, as was already mentioned , is cultivated mostly at the inland of province of Ancona, between citties Jesi Matelica where are located two areas DOC and DOCG for Riserve. Verdicchio is vinified also as spumante and passito.
Verdicchio Bianco has colour light straw yellow , the smell is delicate fruity and floral, scents of flors of broom, hawthorn, peach, the green apple, with aftertaste pleasently bitter, at mouth with optimal equilibrium of acidity, flavor and alcohol.
Usualy Verdicchio di Matelica demonstrates the higher acidity , the wine is more full-bodied, more mineral and with the higher alcohol level than Verdichio dei Castelli di Jesi ( typicaly much more lighter and fruity ).
The wines from the denomination Passerina, are conversely more mineral, with some citrus aroma , tropical fruits and floral.
The grape Pecorino is spread mostly at province of Ascoli Piceno. Pecorino in purity give the full-bodied, wine, with the citrus scent, peach, white flores and erbs.
Principal wine grape varieties with black berries of area, are Lacrima and Vernaccia Nera, both autochthonous , but there are present also grapes of Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Aleatico.
The grape Lacrima, spread inland of province of Ancona, gives the wine with very dark ruby red colour , with intense aromas of rose, violet , blackberry, spicy scents of cinnamon , nutmegs, cacao and black cherries, with dry palate.
The another rare grape is the valuable grape Vernaccia Nera, cultivated at area Comune di Serrapetrona, in province of Macerata. Vernaccia Nera is produced in very limited quantities . Wines obtained from those grapes bring aromas of blackberry, blackcurrent , black cherries, of rose and cloves .
The main characteristic of DOCG Vernaccia di Serrapetrona is given by three fermentation’s. Between the last week of September and the first week of October the grapes are harvested for production of wine of the base , while Vernaccia Nera is harvested last and later forced to wilt ( 40% of grapes should be wilted , while the percentuality of grapes of di Vernaccia Nera should be 85% as minimum ). Towards the middle of January , Vernaccia Nera is destemped and fermented , and at the end of fermentation of those wilted grapes is ready to produce the wine of base , and later to restart the third fermentation
The grape Montepulciano is use to produce wines DOC Rosso Conero and DOCG Conero in protected area of Parco naturale del Conero, in province of Ancona.
The same grape is also used to produce wines DOC Offida Rosso and probably more famous Rosso Piceno, both produced in area of province of Ascoli Piceno. The wines obtained from this grape have characteristics aromas of red fruits , redcurrent, raspberry and black cherries and various herbs. Generally, the first impression offerred by Montepulciano, could be rustical and animal , but in the cases of refinement at the wooden drums, the wine becomes softer and always its taste becomes warm with long aftertaste .
However now we have enough of theory and let’s start to visit wine cellars of the region.
