Maceratino

Maceratino is the white grape of the Colli Maceratesi in the Marche, and almost everyone who drinks it calls it Ribona. There are only around 244 hectares, its plantings declined through most of the twentieth century and into this one, and it has been pulled back from the edge by a small number of determined growers. It is now regarded as one of the qualitative white grapes of the region.

Two names, one grape The official name comes from the province of Macerata, where the variety is concentrated; Ribona is the local name and increasingly the one on the label, since the DOC permits it. A wine labelled Colli Maceratesi Ribona must contain at least 85 per cent of the variety, while Colli Maceratesi Bianco requires a minimum of 70 per cent, with up to 30 per cent of Chardonnay, Grechetto, Malvasia or Verdicchio.

A crowded synonym list Maceratino has collected an unusual number of alternative names: Aribona, Bianchetta, Greco, Greco Maceratino, Montecchiese, Ribona, Verdicchio Marina and Verdicchio Marino. Several of those borrow from better-known grapes, which is the usual fate of a variety that nobody had a commercial reason to identify precisely.

Greco or Verdicchio Ampelographers have long suspected a relationship to Greco and to Verdicchio, and the overlapping synonyms are cited as evidence. No definitive link has been proven either way. This is the same situation as Biancame and Trebbiano Toscano: a widely repeated identity that turns out never to have been demonstrated, and one that ought to be treated as open.

In the vineyard The variety is concentrated in the hills of the Macerata province, inland from the Adriatic, where the combination of altitude and sea influence gives the long, cool ripening the wine depends on. Its decline through the twentieth century followed the familiar pattern: not a failure of quality, but a grape that produced less and demanded more than the alternatives available to growers.

Appearance and structure The wines are fresh and balanced, with the acidity held in check rather than sharp, and a pleasant salivating quality on the palate that growers make a point of. They are medium-light in body and built on aromatic precision. Stainless steel vinification gives the clearest expression, and is what most producers use.

Aromatic profile Maceratino is highly aromatic for a central Italian white, showing floral notes and citrus, with a saline lift that reflects the proximity of the Adriatic. That combination of genuine perfume and salinity is what distinguishes it from Verdicchio, which is the obvious local comparison and a sterner, more mineral wine.

In the cellar Most producers ferment in stainless steel and bottle early to protect the aromatics, and the results support that choice. A smaller number age on lees or in neutral wood for texture. The 85 per cent Ribona designation is the one to look for, since the Bianco version can contain nearly a third of something else, Chardonnay included.

Key expressions

• Colli Maceratesi Ribona DOC, at a minimum 85 per cent, the varietal wine.
• Colli Maceratesi Bianco, at 70 per cent minimum with permitted blenders.
• Stainless-steel bottlings, where the aromatics are clearest.
• Lees-aged versions from growers seeking more texture.

The question of aging Maceratino is best within three or four years, while the floral and citrus aromatics are intact and the salinity fresh. The better lees-aged wines go a little further and gain some weight, but the perfume is the point and it does not improve with time. This is a wine to drink rather than keep.

At the table It belongs with the Adriatic cooking of the Marche: brodetto, fried and grilled fish, shellfish, and the vegetable dishes of the Macerata hills. The salinity makes it particularly good with raw seafood. Serve it cold, around ten degrees.

Why it matters Two hundred and forty-four hectares is not much for a grape now counted among the better whites of its region, and the recovery is recent enough to be reversible. Maceratino also carries an unsettled question about its relationship to Greco and Verdicchio that nobody has resolved, which is a reminder of how much of the Marche’s ampelography remains genuinely unfinished.