Two Verdicchio stars in the Marche wine firmament (#ItalianFWT)

“These are two very different wines,” Carol notes as she pulls down a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and a Verdicchio di Matelica from the shelves in her retail store.

“Sounds great!” I reply.

I’m liking the idea of comparing the same white variety from two different subregions of Marche, Italy, for this month’s Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) blogging theme: Abruzzo and Le Marche. What’s more, and I’ve already mentioned this in my posts, I rely heavily on Carol’s advice and knowledge to help me understand what to expect. A good relationship with a local wine retailer is worth its weight in grapes.

Hope you can join the #ItalianFWT bloggers on Saturday, May 6, for a Twitter chat about these two central Italy wine regions. Some bloggers have found one wine to share and pair. Others are tasting multiple wines. The fun gets started at 8 am PT/11 am ET. Everyone is welcome!

Preview of what’s next

For background on these two wine regions, please see my invitation post. Here’s a preview of what the bloggers are offering up:

• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm: “Welcoming Spring with Farinelli Rosé”
• Cam from Culinary Cam: “Frecantò di Verdure, the Marche’s Version of Ratatouille, with the 2021 Colleleva Lacrima di Morro d’Alba”
• Robin from Crushed Grape Chronicles: “Pecorino from Marche and Montepulciano from Abruzzo, exploring a bit of the wild lands of Italy’s Eastern Coast”
• Andrea from The Quirky Cork: “Pecorino Shines with Creamy Asparagus Pasta”
• Jennifer from Vino Travels: “Wines of Le Marche with Il Conte Villa Prandone”
• Susannah from Avvinare: “Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, A Perfect Sip for Spring”
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator: “Cerasuolo from Organic Famiglia Febo and Biodynamic Lunaria Paired with Abruzzo Inspired Menu: Mussels and Saffron, Pecorino and Pasta”
• Cindy from Grape Experiences: “Uno Spuntino! Castorani Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Casauria Riserva 2015 with Grilled Pecorino Cheese Sandwiches”
• Linda from My Full Wine Glass: “Two Verdicchio stars in the Marche wine firmament”

Verdicchio, two ways

Verdicchio means “little green one” because of its green-colored hue in the glass. Legend has it Verdicchio was the wine the Visigoths drank when they marched on Rome in the late 4^th and early 5^th centuries. Apparently, the troops believed this native white wine would maintain their strength.

• Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is perhaps the most famous of these varietal wines. Castelli refer to the medieval, fortified villages of this hilly wine-producing area. Calcareous, clay and limestone-rich soils give Jesi wines a mineral note, while proximity to the Adriatic sea and various local rivers provide constant winds to prevent fungal diseases (source).
• Verdicchio di Matelica is less well known than Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi. Unlike its famous neighbor, the vineyards of Matelica are landlocked. Also, the wine-producing zone is one-tenth the size of its counterpart. Vineyards are located on mountain slopes approximately 1,300 feet or more in altitude (source). The Matelica valley, or Sinclinale Camerte, is the only one in the entire region that runs parallel to the sea. The result is a continental microclimate unaffected by air from the Adriatic sea (source).

The producers and the wines

• 2021 Marchetti Tenuta del Cavaliere Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, DOC Classico Superiore

Maurizio Marchetti lives just outside Ancona, near the Adriatic coast. His micro-production, single-vineyard Tenuta del Cavaliere is made from grapes that spend an extra month on the vine to develop flavor. The wine is aged in steel for about five months sur lees (on the spent yeast cells). After bottling, it rests for a few more months in bottle.

My tasting notes: Straw-colored with greenish tinges. On the nose I get mostly apricot and almond. The palate is round and slightly bready, tasting of almond and citrus with medium acidity and a longish finish. Alcohol: 14%. Price: $15.

• 2019 Colpaola Verdicchio di Matelica DOC

Colpaola is located over 2,000 feet above sea level on hills below the San Vicino Mountains, in the village of Braccano. Three generations of the Porcarelli family have worked this estate. Grapes are hand harvested and grown “according to biological farming practices.”

My tasting notes: Golden with greenish tinges. More aromatic than the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi with apricot, herbal and flowery notes. Palate is medium+ acidity and sharper than the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, with a bitter almond, mineral taste and some green apple, too. Medium+ finish. Alcohol: 13.5%. Price: $18.

Food, glorious food

With two Marche wines to taste, I was determined to cook something from the local cuisine. I landed on this fennel-based brodetto recipe. A brodetto is a fish stew packed with the catch of the day and whatever else your local fishmonger is hawking when you’re shopping for ingredients. Mine consisted of cod, mussels, clams and prawns. Note to readers: I did not make my own fish stock. To save time, I used a combo of chicken and veggie stock. Also, mild-mannered cod requires a heftier lift from the spices. Rosemary sourdough bread rounded out the meal.

Both of these beautifully made wines are food friendly and a seamless match for the stew (or chowder, to put it more accurately). I tend to prefer the mouthfeel of whites that are barrel aged or spend time on their lees – like this Marchetti Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi – to their steel-fermented cousins. But that’s just me. My advice is to sample both and draw your own conclusions!