Colli Maceratesi DOC

The whole province of Macerata plus the commune of Loreto, which makes this one of the largest denominations in the Marche by area and one of the least known by name. Its case rests on a white grape almost nobody grows anywhere else.

The Terroir The registered file is brief and puts the weight on people. Vine growing and winemaking have been present here for several centuries; human factors influenced the choice of varieties and the evolution of growing and winemaking techniques, the object of continuous improvement. It then records two traditions worth noting: the production of spumante in the Colli Maceratesi area has long been known, as various ancient writings show, and the production of passito has ancient, well-documented roots. The ground is the Marche pattern — parallel river valleys running from the Sibillini to the Adriatic, on clay and sandstone hills between roughly 100 and 500 metres.

Maceratino The white is built on Maceratino, now usually labelled Ribona, at a minimum of 70 per cent. It is a genuinely local variety, grown almost entirely within this province, and long dismissed as a bulk grape. Handled properly it gives a white of real substance: green apple and aniseed, a waxy, almost saline texture, and enough acidity to take lees ageing and a few years in bottle. It is one of the more convincing white-grape recoveries in central Italy.

Grape Varieties Beside Maceratino, Verdicchio, Pecorino, Grechetto and Chardonnay among the whites. The red is Sangiovese-led with Montepulciano, Ciliegiolo, Cabernet and, most interestingly, Vernaccia Nera — the same black variety that makes the sparkling Vernaccia di Serrapetrona a few valleys inland.

The Critical Take A denomination covering an entire province cannot have a style, and Colli Maceratesi does not. What it has is Maceratino, and the argument for the name is entirely that grape. The problem is competition from within the same region: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di Matelica are better known, better organised and grow in the next valleys. Ribona is a harder sell than Verdicchio and, at its best, at least as good.

Loreto The one commune outside the province is there for a reason: Loreto has drawn pilgrims to its Holy House since the thirteenth century, and a shrine on that scale needed wine. Its inclusion is an administrative fossil of a medieval market.

At the Table Marchigiano cooking: vincisgrassi, ciauscolo, roast rabbit, brodetto from the coast, and pecorino. Whites at 10–12°C, reds at 16–17°C.

Benchmark Producers Boccadigabbia, Fontezoppa, Fattoria Forano.