"Good wine is a necessity of life for me." Thomas Jefferson
So, my advice for wine enthusiasts: Pack your bags, board the plane, and come to Le Marche where you can still experience the real Italy and many wonderful wines. Below are some of the principal wineries producing sparkling Verdicchio. Make sure they are on your itinerary.
1. Colonnara
The Colonnara winery started as a cooperative of 19 growers in the small hill town of Cupramontana in 1959. During its 50 plus years of wine making history, Colonnara has grown to include nearly 200 producers spanning the length of the Marche region from the province of Pesaro/Urbino in the north to the southern province of Ascoli Piceno. Today, Colonnara, one of the region's largest and most respected wineries, makes well over 1 million bottles of wine per year and 25% of their production is sparkling wines. Colonnara, one of the pioneers of sparkling wine making in the region, today makes spumante by the charmat method both Brut and Cuvee, a longer aged charmat; and two very special methodo classico wines: Luigi Ghislieri aged in the bottle for 24 to 30 months and Ubaldo Rosi, aged for 60 months.
Visit the Colonnara winery at http://www.colonnara.it. Contact by email: info@colonnara.it
Garofoli is a five generation family owned and operated winery whose origins date back to 1901. Located in Loreto, Italy, the winery produces approximately 2 million bottles of wine per year, about 90,000 bottles of which are sparkling wines made in both the charmat and classic Champagne methods. Today, Garofoli offers 5 types of sparkling wine - one made by the charmat method and the other four made by the classic Champagne method. Among their sparkling wine selections is a Grand Reserva bottle aged for 10 to 20 years and a brut rose made from the Montepulciano grape and bottle aged for at least 24 months.
Visit Garofoli at http://www.garofolivini.it/. Contact them by email: mail@garofolivini.it
For four generations, the Bonci family has been making wine in Cupramontana. Today they make approximately 250,000 bottles of wine per year including a number of sparkling wines made in both the charmat and classic champagne methods. If you stop by the cantina for a taste, you may be greeted by winery owner, Giuseppe Bonci, as we were on a visit a little while back.
Visit the Vallerosa Bonci website at: http://www.vallerosa-bonci.com/. Contact them by email: info@vallerosa-bonci.com
Umani Ronchi is a family run winery dating back to 1959. Today the Bernetti family produces 20 varieties of wine with a total production of approximately 3 million bottles per year. All of their vineyards are organically farmed. They have only one sparkling wine in their portfolio, Umani Ronchi Extra Brut. This wine entered the market in 2011. It is a methodo classico wine bottle aged for 30 months.
Visit the Umani Ronchi website at: http://www.umanironchi.com/en. Contact them by email: wine@umanironchi.it
The Moncaro winery in Montecarotto was founded by a group of growers in 1964. Today, the winery produces a broad assortment of wines, both white and red, including a charmat method sparkling wine made from 100% verdicchio grapes and a methodo classico made from Verdicchio and Montepulciano.
Visit the Moncaro winery on line at http://www.moncaro.com/en/.
Le Marche wine tours (available in English): http://www.marcosway.it/
A beautiful country house and restaurant set in the heart of Verdicchio country: http://www.vittoria-ilgraditempo.it/