Rosso Piceno DOC

Located in the Marche region, Rosso Piceno is the most extensive of all the Marche DOCs, covering a large and diverse territory. The wine-growing area extends into the southwestern part of the Marche, situated between the Tronto and Aso rivers around the town of Offida.

Grape Varieties In essence, Rosso Piceno has always been a traditional blend of the region’s two most prominent red grapes:

• Montepulciano: 35% to 85% of the blend.
• Sangiovese: 15% to 50% of the blend.
• Historical Note: Historically, the lighter Rosso Piceno wines contained a higher percentage of Sangiovese compared to the neighboring (and typically more robust) Rosso Cònero wines.

The Terroir Because the DOC covers such a massive territory, the terroir varies. The widest area of the Rosso Piceno region consists of a clay substrate with a few sandy intercalations. Near the town of Offida, the geological substratum becomes more complex, made up of clays and fine sea sands from the Upper Pliocene, clays from the Lower Pleistocene, and sands and conglomerates of littoral or continental environments.

The Critical Take Given the large and diverse territory it covers, significant variation in wine styles is to be expected. While many modern Rosso Picenos can be “Montepulciano top-heavy,” traditional and many current iterations are light and fruity. In fact, these lighter expressions are so fresh that locals love to drink them paired with fish dishes, particularly the hearty local fish soup known as brodetto anconetano.

Piceno Superiore The one distinction worth knowing on the label. Rosso Piceno Superiore comes only from a restricted zone of thirteen communes in the hills around Ascoli Piceno, in the far south of the region; it requires higher minimum alcohol and a year’s aging, and it is a materially different wine from the base DOC — denser, more structured, and built on the Montepulciano end of the permitted range. If a bottle says only Rosso Piceno, it may come from anywhere across a very large territory. If it says Superiore, it comes from the best of it.

At the Table Both readings of the wine have a use. The lighter, Sangiovese-weighted style is what the coast drinks with brodetto and grilled fish, served cool at 14–15°C, and it is one of very few Italian reds that genuinely works with a fish stew. The Montepulciano-heavy and Superiore bottlings want vincisgrassi, roast lamb, sausage and aged pecorino, at 16–17°C. Neither is a wine for long keeping — four to eight years for the Superiore, less for the rest.

Benchmark Producers Velenosi, Aurora, Saladini Pilastri, Le Caniette, Tenuta Cocci Grifoni.