Pizzini Pievalta Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi

Pizzini Pievalta Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi pleasant white wine available BTG at Italian Village Chicago

For antipasta pre-dinner starter at Italian Village Chicago, I had a BTG (One of Wine Director Jared Gelband's By The Glass selections) Verdicchio, a pleasant refreshing grape varietal from central Italy ideal with my caprese mozzarello with heirloom tomatos. I mentioned this wine when I wrote about that dinner a separate blogpost.

Barone Pizzini Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva San Paolo Pievalta DOC 2013

The long name identifying this wine exemplifies a reason many are intimidated or overwhelmed in learning about wines, especially Italian wines. Even I, a fairly knowledgable enophile (wine geek), get wound up trying to parse or decipher all the designations, words and syllables of such, (hence this wine blog to help 'unwindwine'!). The variables of this wine name are parsed and explained below, hopefully making sense of it and providing a basis for better understanding this label, or Italian wines generally. 

Verdicchio is a very popular grape varietal grown throughout central Italy with an estimated 65,000 hectares planted which makes Verdicchio the 15th most planted variety of any grape in the world, ahead of better-known popular varieties like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Sangiovese. Verdicchio is widely grown throughout the Marche, Umbria and Lazio regions of Italy, mostly in the DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata - quality control regulations) wines of Verdicchio di Matelica and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi in the commune of Jesi in the Ancona province. 

The Pievalta winery is located in Maiolati Spontini township, Ancona province, in the Marches (Marche region of central Italy), in the heart of the commune of Castelli di Jesi. The area is known for production of wines made from Verdicchio grapes.

Pievalta was founded in 2002 through the vision of the Barone Pizzini winery of Franciacorta. CEO, Silvano Brescianini, had already recognized the great potential of Verdicchio as one of Italy’s most important indigenous grape varieties. Barone Pizzini tapped enologist, Alessandro Fenino, from Franciacorta to manage the Castelli di Jesi appellation project.

Pievalta farms 26.5 hectares of estate-owned vineyards with two principal growing sites on either end of the Esino River Valley. The vines were originally planted in the 1970s. Another vineyard is on the right bank of the Esino in San Paolo di Jesi in the hamlet of Follonica considered one of the best subzones in Castelli di Jesi which produces wines that are austere, rich in flavor and known for their power.

This label is sourced from the right bank of the Esino River made exclusively with grapes from the San Paolo vineyard. Locals point to San Paolo hamlet as one of the best areas for growing Verdicchio. Winemaker notes: "On the nose, this wine has delicate notes of yellow fruit, aromatic herbs, citrus, and almond. In the mouth, it is multi-layered and intensely mineral".

Straw colored with a gold hue, light medium bodied, 100% Veridcchio at five years, is starting to show a little age, floral aromas, notes of pear, apple, and hints of lime, stone fruit and almonds, dry, with medium to medium acidity, medium alcohol and nice flavor intensity.  

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2457290

http://www.pievalta.it/en/product/san-paolo-castelli-di-jesi-verdicchio-riserva/

https://italianvillage-chicago.com/