La Marca di San Michele Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Capovolto 2015
-
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
This small estate is run by three siblings and produces just 2,000 cases a year. This riserva aged for nine months in large Slavonian casks, developing deep flavors of golden apple and dried pineapple accented with notes of tarragon and toasted nuts. Hints of citrus and salinity brighten those robust flavors, keeping the wine lively and fresh on the long finish.
The La Marca di San Michele estate in Cupramontana is run by the sibling team of Alessandro Bonci, Beatrice Bonci, and Daniela Quaresima. They are light years ahead of most of their neighbors in growing their six hectares of Verdicchio vines entirely organically, vinifying with minimal SO2, aging some cuvées in large botte, and bottling unfiltered. Cupramontana is the historical birthplace of Verdicchio production in Le Marche–the region’s first vineyards were registered in the land office here in 1471. Camaldolite monks began viticulture here many centuries earlier in 1186, in the area of San Michele, a rural frazione bordering Cupramontana. La Marca refers to a “border district.” All of these rural territories were united to form the region of “Le Marche,” the only Italian region that takes the plural.
This estate represents a real diamond in the rough in this immense and beautiful region of largely untapped potential. In the family’s capable hands, the Verdicchio grape shows its potential to make one of the most exciting white wines of Italy. La Marca produces two main white wines, a DOC Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore called “Capovolto” that is tank-aged and a DOCG Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi Riserva called “Passolento” that is botte-aged with full malolactic fermentation. Their vineyards are planted on a 12 million year old former limestone seabed, on slopes climbing the foothills of the Apennine mountains facing east towards the Adriatic sea. The dynamic young leadership of La Marca is producing wines from this bountiful land of green rolling hills that will inspire your senses and transport you to this breathtaking land.
One of central Italy’s classic white grapes, Verdicchio thrives in two distinct zones of the Marche. The best vineyards of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi adorn hillsides a mere 20 miles from the Adriatic Sea. The vineyards of the smaller, more inland Verdicchio di Matelica, are at higher elevation. Somm Secret—Recent genetic discoveries have proven that the Verdicchio grape is identical to Trebbiano di Soave, Trebbiano di Lugana and Trebbiano Veltenesi.
Stretching along Italy’s eastern coast with neighbors, Umbria to its west and Abruzzo to its south, Marche is a region with a varying climate from north to south. Its coastal plains roll into hills that become the Apennine Mountains, which run the length of the country. The Marche's best red wines come from the grapes, Montepulciano and Sangiovese; the local Verdicchio makes refreshing, crisp and light whites.