This month our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group is
exploring verdicchio from all over Italy.
One of the areas I am most familiar with when it comes to verdicchio is
the region of Le Marche, which is located in central Italy. Le Marche has a long coastline along the
Adriatic and touches 5 other regions to its west including Emilia Romagna to
the north, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio to the west and Abruzzo to the south.
When considering verdicchio from Le Marche wine region there
are 2 main wines to consider. Those from
Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di Matelica.
I have previously wrote a comparison of
the two verdicchio some time back that you can read more about. You’ll also find this grape in the wines of
the Veneto, specifically those of Soave where its known as trebbiano di
soave. There it is used as a blending
grape with garganega lending it’s high acidity characteristic.
Tenuta di
Tavignano is located in the town of Cingoli in the Ancona province. Set up on a south-eastern sloping hill
overlooking the Jesi valley the winery is surrounded by mountains including the
Appenines and Mount San Vicino. You’ll
find the vineyards of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi located on the northern
side of the Misa river. The Jesi were an
ancient tribe that resided on the castelli, or castles, situated on top of the
hillsides as Tenuta di Tavignano is.
The history of the winery goes back to the 70’s when it was
purchased by Stefano Aymerich and his wife Beatrice Lucangeli, a descendant of
nobility in the Marche region. They didn’t
begin to start thoughts of making wine until the 90’s when they revamped the
estate and planted grape varietals.
Their goal was to become a producer of top quality verdicchio. Today the winery is managed by Stefano’s
niece, Ondine de la Feld on 30 hectacres of vineyards. The winery since 2015 has also been working
towards being organic.
 |
| Ondine de la Feld (left) & Stefano Aymerich (right) |
All their grapes are hand harvested and whites are softly
pressed at low fermentation temperatures.
I had a bottle of their 2014 Tenuta di Tavignano Villa Torre Verdicchio dei
Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore that I opened this week. I wish I had time to prepare something with
it, but it was a very enjoyable wine all on its own. I know everyone is all about wine pairings,
but I thoroughly enjoy having wine solo before any pairings are involved
anyways.
2014 Tenuta di
Tavignano Villa Torre Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore
Color: brilliantly crystal, straw color with a tinge of green,
almost clear.
Nose: Grassy, citrus, grapefruit.
Palette: A crisp, dry white wine with a nice balance of
fruit, lemon citrus backed with solid acidity, good sapidity and minerals.
ABV 13% SRP $11
Pairing: Due to its proximity to the sea I can definitely see this wine pairing well with seafood dishes.
It saddens me that so many people are out there drinking
cheap pinot grigio when they can get such fantastic white wines like this
verdicchio for such great values, but don’t have the knowledge of what a
verdicchio is. Hopefully we help break
some of that here on Vino Travels.
- Jeff at FoodWineClick! gives us a A Wine Pairing Lesson with Verdicchio.
- Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla pours Bisci Verdicchio di Matelica with a Panzanella di Primavera.
- Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm serves up Scallop Crudo with Verdicchio.
- Katarina at Grapevine Adventures offers a Multinational Spring Lunch with Verdicchio.
- Jane at Always Ravenous shares Verdicchio Paired with the Flavors of Spring.
- Nicole at Somm's Table posts Cooking to the Wine: Azienda Santa Barbara Verdicchio and Tuna Melts.
- Lauren at The Swirling Dervish pairs Verdicchio and Roasted Vegetables: A Match Made in Heaven.
- Lynn at Savor the Harvest has A Spring Date With Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi.
- Susannah of Avvinare listens as Verdicchio Sings of Spring.
*Pictures copyright of Tenuta di Tavignano
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