RuvidaMente
Verdicchio di Metalica, the most characteristic white wine of the hills around Macerata, is produced on the slopes of the chain of the Apennines in the provinces of Macerata and Ancona.
Production is centered on the community of Metalica. The landscape is varied and undulating and many of the hills are crowned with castles that were constructed between
the 12th and 14th centuries. They feature tall towers, each visible to another, so that the series of castles represented an efficient lookout and signaling system that stretched from the shores
of the Adriatic to the peaks of the Apennines.
There are numerous ancient legends about Verdicchio. The oldest concerns Alaric, king of the Visigoths, who on his way through the Marches to besiege and sack
Rome in 410, was reported to have acquired 40 some (the amount that could be loaded onto a single mule) to assure his forces of sufficient strength to capture the imperial capital.
More appealing is the story of the dedication of the most famous composer of the Marches, Gioacchino Rossini (1792- 1868), to the wines, including Verdicchio,
of his homeland. The various chronicles of the time report that a certain Marchese Carlo Bevilacqua was invited to one of the numerous banquets given by the composer. The Marchese dealt so
enthusiastically with all the dishes and bottles offered him that Rossini was moved to observe that his guest had “honorably dishonored” his name (Drinkwater).
No history of the Verdicchio di Metalica is complete without reference to another major element of local tradition, the vincisgrassi of Metalica. It
is an incredibly rich lasagna that is famous throughout the world. Although it is extraordinarily rich in flavors, it is handsomely partnered by the Verdicchio di Metalica, a
wine that is different from the better-known Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi because of its greenish shading and more substantial structure.
Map of the production area
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