I am partial to a regular Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, not just when it comes in the super-cool “Gina Lollobrigida” bottles. Okay so not everyone thinks those hourglass bottles are super-cool, but that’s probably because they are not super-cool people.
This Verdicchio di Matelica Poggio alle Rondini is made from the same kind of grapes, but grown up the road on slightly higher slopes, making it quite a bit tastier.
It’s a pale lemon-straw colour with a citrus smell. It’s dry, bone dry, but not lip puckeringly so. It has a minerally acidity, at a medium high level. The flavour cuts through that well with lots of grapefruity goodness and abitterness that’s properly described as almondy, but I find it more peach-stone-like, but then I do like the flavour of peach stones.
I was a big fan of Schweppes’ Russchian years ago before they started to mess with the formula. There’s just a hint of that zingy, bitter deliciousness in this wine. There’s a bit of honey that follows all that zip. It all adds up to quite some mouthfeel so you get a bigger body than you might expect for an everyday Italian wine. The alcohol level is bang on medium, so go ahead with that second glass.
I really enjoyed this wine as something a little different, and I thought it was reasonably priced at £10, but at the moment it’s part of a promotion at Majestic if you order two or more bottles, so you can get it for £7.50 which I think is a great price.
I remember the Schweppes Russchian, great with Vodka.
I have been to Matelica, and it must be my accent, but nobody believes that a town in the Marche is named after a heavy metal band.
The local wine Verdiccio is unique and excellent with food, in fact my top Italian white.
Oooo I didn’t realise this was the wine from the place you’d been too.