Marche | Wine region

Marche | Wine region | Buy at Gerardo

The Marches turn their backs on Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria and look out to sea. In gently rolling hills, the land slopes down to the coast, and two things, the products of an ancient agriculture and the spoils of fishermen define the cuisine there. Dishes from the coastal strip: Brodetto, for example, that tasty fish soup that the cuoco or cuoca prepares with lots of onions, garlic, parsley, tomatoes, bay leaves and a dash of white vinegar. Or then, determined by the peasant, the majestic pies, the fragrant roast pork, but above all those famous ''maccheroni alla chitarra'' that are the national dish in Abruzzo. There is no farmhouse there where you would not find the chitarra with its iron wires stretched over a wood, over which you lay the thin strips of egg dough. By pressing on these wires, the dough is cut into square cookies, which are then prepared ready for the table with meat sauce and Parmesan cheese. Simple dishes, rich in tradition, which the famous Italian writer Luigi Veronelli considered to be as secure on the tables as the ancient churches in the middle of their villages and the walled villages in turn on the tops of their hills. And if wines are produced here in lesser quantity than elsewhere, they - like Verdicchio - are by no means behind in terms of quality.

Apart from the already mentioned Verdicchio, the most famous wine representatives of the region are the red Rosso Piceno and the white wines made from the rediscovered grape variety Pecorino.

Marche is a region rich in faces, but until today still a piece of 'undiscovered Italy'. This is because their level of awareness is far behind Tuscany and Piedmont due to little marketing activity - the 'Marches' are not yet a 'brand'. The name of the region 'Marche' undoubtedly derives from German, it has been used for individual areas in the past. Its provincial character, especially of the southern Marches, persisted until recent history.At first glance, all the above points are apparent drawbacks, but this has also spared the Marches from some of the unpleasant currents of modern times.

The money of the industrial north has properly plowed up some regions of Italy, such as the Maremma, in southern Tuscany. Entire landscapes have been bought up, transformed, given new vineyards, wineries and cellars. Almost all the well-known giants of the Italian wine scene opened branch wineries there. The consequences were serious (not only) for vineyard prices, because they literally exploded as a result. Moreover, the instant wineries that emerged in this way are not based on a local winemaking tradition - they are pure fads. Because by the Bekanntheitsgrd of a region the factor calculates like desired the vineyards for capitalistic projects are.

In contrast to it the inhabitants of the marks - the Marchegiani - are predominantly rural coined and lead a life in that frugality as large value applies. High flights are foreign to the people here, they prefer the healthy mediocrity. Nevertheless, there is a fear that the acquisition of value real estate could become unaffordable. For young winemakers, this is an important cost factor if they want to acquire or lease one or two additional vineyards. No winery inherently owns only top sites. With a lot of tact must be pre-felt with those who have become too old or frail, whether they would give their vineyards.

Because there are many emotions attached to the old vineyards and in the end it is just not only a question of price. The acquisition of new vineyards and the associated pricing are easily upset by overly fat wallets from Italy's industrial north. This form of money-making is new to the Marche and threatens centuries-old principles. Young winegrowers, who come from local winegrowing families, can easily calculate that with wine there will never be enough money to refinance the new prices of the Marche vineyards.

Unless one belongs to those 'winegrowers' who come to the Marche with various side incomes from industry, pharmacy, insurance or banking. the traditional farms do not have such funds and depend solely on the sale of their products. One quickly notices that, in addition to the long-established winegrowing families, more and more competitors from outside are appearing in the wine business of the brands. A form of competition for whom a vineyard is merely a new investment, and the wine market is a kind of stock exchange - into which you can buy with your checkbook. - Gerardo