ColleStefano Verdicchio di Matelica 2024

Importer notes: The little town of Matelica is in the Marche region, just east of Umbria. This region produces fine, minerally wine from the Verdicchio grape. Fabio Marchionni took over the family vineyards from his father after graduating from the new enology school in Ancona and completing his apprenticeship in Germany. He keeps yields extremely low, less than forty hectoliters per hectare, and makes wine with painstaking care. Fabio used to bottle, cork and label all his Verdicchio by hand in his tiny cantina (now he's sprung for a bottling machine). The romance isn't the point, though; the point is that this wine is racy, vivid, and excellent with all kinds of seafood dishes. Use it like you might use a Sauvignon Blanc, because Verdicchio has some of the same herbal aroma and flavor as Sauvignon. It is a great aperitif, too, with olives and toasted almonds. I drink a lot of this wine.