2014 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico

A very rare estate in Italy that devotes itself completely to just one grape, Verdicchio. Patrizio and Daniela, and their children Tommaso and Caterina have raised Verdicchio wine making to an art form, and nobody produces as many successful wines from the grape as they do. The Verdicchio Balciana is especially grand, undoubtedly one of Italy’s twenty best white wines: made from a late harvested grapes grown in a beautiful amphitheater, this single vineyard wine is only made in the best years (for example, none was made in 2002 or 2005). It’s the most Alsatian-like of Italy’s white wines: past vintages carried quite a bit of residual sugar, but Patrizio Sartarelli found it was difficult to sell (in Italy people want their white wines to be unfailingly dry) and so recent vintages have seen this great wine’s sugar levels drop and the alcohol levels creep up. Wine lovers should also try the Tralivio Verdicchio, which has improved by leaps and bounds over the last five years and is now one of the best Verdicchio wines made anywhere. All that being true, I found this year’s lineup of wines from Sartarelli a little less thrilling than usual.