Le Marche
Le Marche occupies Italy’s eastern coastline between Emilia-Romagna to the North and Abruzzo to the south, with Umbria being its primary western neighbour. While the Adriatic coast has a deep influence on the identity of Le Marche, a short distance inland the terrain becomes hilly and indeed the region is as much characterised by the Apennines as it is by the Adriatic. And though this rise in elevation colours the food and wine of the region, the balance of the maritime and continental is far more evenly balanced than it is in the abruptly mountainous Abruzzo.
Le Marche’s wine identity is inextricably linked to Verdicchio, its most famous vine and wine. The two finest DOCs are Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, which is the largest and most famous area and has a maritime climate, and Verdicchio di Matelica, which covers a small, elevated region flanked by the Apennine Mountain Ranges, and boasts a continental climate. Verdicchio is a late ripening variety ...READ MORE
Le Marche
Le Marche occupies Italy’s eastern coastline between Emilia-Romagna to the North and Abruzzo to the south, with Umbria being its primary western neighbour. While the Adriatic coast has a deep influence on the identity of Le Marche, a short distance inland the terrain becomes hilly and indeed the region is as much characterised by the Apennines as it is by the Adriatic. And though this rise in elevation colours the food and wine of the region, the balance of the maritime and continental is far more evenly balanced than it is in the abruptly mountainous Abruzzo.
Le Marche’s wine identity is inextricably linked to Verdicchio, its most famous vine and wine. The two finest DOCs are Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, which is the largest and most famous area and has a maritime climate, and Verdicchio di Matelica, which covers a small, elevated region flanked by the Apennine Mountain Ranges, and boasts a continental climate. Verdicchio is a late ripening variety whose considerable character is only revealed with patience and an agenda of quality over quantity. As such, it was never going to sustain the quantity imperative that shadowed post-war Italy and for some time it was marginalised by the prolific, ubiquitous and ultimately dull, Trebbiano di Toscano. However, with local support and a growing trend towards character and quality, today, it clearly presents as one of Italy’s finest autochthonous grapes. In general terms, the wines of Matelica are finer and structurally more linear than those of Jesi.
Red wines in Le Marche are built around their Abruzzese neighbour’s signature variety, Montepulciano, with a supporting role from the central Italian star, Sangiovese. The prominent DOCs being Rosso Cònero and Rosso Piceno, with the former requiring a high percentage of Montepulciano supplemented by Sangiovese and the latter having more flexibility in the balance of the two varieties as well as the inclusion of others. It is with Cònero that the most distinctive and admirable wines have so far emerged, and, indeed, it is widely believed that Montepulciano will be the driving force behind the best Marche reds of the future.
Principal denominations: Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva DOCG, Cònero DOCG, Offida DOCG, Rosso Cònero DOC, Rosso Piceno, Terre di Offida DOC, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC, Verdicchio di Matelica DOC, Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva DOCGImportant white varieties: Biancame, Passerina, Pecorino,Verdicchio
Important red varieties: Montepulciano, Sangiovese
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