WhiteLead grape in 5
Verdicchio
The Marche's white, from Castelli di Jesi near the coast and from Matelica in the hills inland. Lemon, green almond and a saline finish, with enough acid and enough body to go ten or fifteen years, which almost nobody expects of it. Matelica is tighter and higher, Jesi rounder. It is arguably the best white grape in Italy for the money.
Worth knowing
It spent decades in a green bottle shaped like an amphora, sold as a cheap seafood wine to tourists. The bottle did enormous damage to how the wine was taken seriously, and the producers who moved to a plain bottle were making a statement about the contents.
Where it is allowed5 appellations