Single Bottle Focus: La Marca di San Michele Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
7/14/21 -
La Marca was started in 2007 by Daniela Quaresima, Beatrice Bonci, and her brother Alessandro. Artists and musicians with some winemaking experience, they thought that producing their own wine would provide a bridge between art and wine, but as Alessandro says, with a laugh, “we quickly found that we were stuck in the vines, that the wine demanded total dedication, and that there was always too much to do and very little time for anything else.” Their town, Cupramontana*, is at the heart of the best terroir for Verdicchio and has always been an important place for wine long before Verdicchio had commecial success, and it’s own DOC. Alessandro: “Our research in wine is aimed at finesse; we want to make an elegant wine. We don’t like heavy wines, difficult to drink, too alcoholic. Now it’s common to find Verdicchio over 14 degrees, and people become accustomed to Verdicchio being similar to a red wine; we’re alone in harvesting a bit early before the other producers to lower alcohol and achieve greater finesse.” La Marca has been farming organically since the beginning, integrating biodynamic practices as well. Winemaking is “classic vinification” – whole bunch, indigenous yeasts, overnight maceration on the skins, and 7-8 months aging on the fine lees. The result is a delicious and eminently versatile white wine. Jamie Wolff
La Marca vineyard, spring
PS - take 10% off for any 12 bottles of wine!
Anita at the kitchen door, Trattoria Anita
*In addition to a lot of very good white wine, Cupramontana has a small, ancient town center, home to Trattoria Anita. I'm talking about eating the best old-fashioned home cooking you can imagine. I am dreaming, pretty much all of the time, about going back.
