Grape: Verdicchio
Region: Marche, Italy

Producer's Notes:

"Carlo Brunori learned to farm the sweet hills of Jesi from his father Giorgio, whom he and his sister Cristina affectionately refer to as "Babbo". About 6.5 hectares of low yielding Verdicchio are grown organically and harvested at the appropriate moment to yield Verdiccio dei Castelli di Jesi of uncommon richness and verve. An older parcel called "San Niccolò" grows in a sandy portion of the vineyard and is vinified into a cuvée of the same name, producing a wine that will improve for 3-5 years in the cellar, and in some vintages small quantities of San Niccolò Riserva "Black Label" are produced with cellaring potential of ten years or more. Two rows of Montepulciano and Sangiovese, across the road from the main vineyards, yield fine Rosso Piceno called "Torquis", and in nearby Morro d'Alba the family leases a small vineyard of Lacrima, from which they obtain "Alborada" Lacrima di Morro d'Alba (no relationship to the other Alba, in Piedmont - isn't Italy fun?!). Strict organic methodology is combined with a minimalist philosophy in the cellar, where cement tanks are utilized for elaboration, and where the oak barrels tend to be of the neutral, larger variety. One finds a few small stainless steel fermentors and barriques because the winery's small production sometimes requires micro-vinifications in smaller vessels. The whites are fined with clay, the reds with eggwhite. A predictable wind which blows daily from the west then switches in the afternoon to the east dries the vineyards and makes organic viticulture relatively easy. Grass grows between the rows of vines, harboring life and holding the soil."