Grape Variety: Verdicchio

Colour: White

Verdicchio is a variety of white grape grown in the Marche region of Italy and gives its name to the varietal white wine made from it. The name is a derivative of the word “verde” which means green due to its slight green/yellow hue.

Its high quality white wines are produced around the area of Castelli di Jesi and Matelica, and are noted for their high acidity and a characteristic nutty flavour. Depending on vinification techniques and on the vintage, the verdicchio ranges from fresh, everyday wines, to wines rich in bouquet and structure, sometimes even capable of aging for ten years or more.

Colle Stefano is situated in a hilly belt in the hinterland of the Marches, 420 m above sea-level, in the Verdicchio di Matelica DOC zone. This narrow tableland which stretches from the south to the north is watered by the Esino river and bounded on the east and west by the mountain range of the Appennini Umbro-Marchigiani (1479 m above sea-level). This large basin was in the Palaeolithic era a salt water lake – traces of mineral salts are still found in the wines. Unaffected by the mitigating influence of the Adriatic Sea, the region is notable for its cool, dry microclimate with high temperature differentials which is ideal for the propagation of Verdicchio di Matelica, an indigenous species of vine that has grown here for many centuries and here ripens late to be harvested from the second half of October onwards. Low yields, hand harvest. Biodynamic practice in the vineyard (meadow grass, flowers and wild herbs grow amongst the vines) helps give the wine its terrific intensity.

This Verdicchio di Matelica is a pale yellow wine with greenish tones and a delicate scent of country herbs and apple; its taste, whose structure is not intrusive, has a fresh lime trace which makes this wine particularly fragrant, and the kind of pervasive acidity previously mentioned will allow your tongue to pass through the eye of the needle and enter the kingdom of oysters with an appetite for destruction!

Natalino Crognaletti also makes biodynamic wines near Ancona. All his wines are aged in old barrels on the lees for a considerable period of time to enhance the flavour and texture of the wine.
His typical Verdicchio has a golden-yellow colour, warm nose of yeast, baked bread, and dried fruits (apricots, pears). Lively attack on the palate with pronounced spicy notes, creamy fruit and brisk finish. Great length – the wine comes back to reveal notes of toasted hazelnuts and lemon. He also makes some experimental cuvees that spend ages in vat before release. Wonderful wines with chargrilled squid.