The allure of Verdicchio

If you want a change from Pinot Grigio, without paying too much for the privilege, Verdicchio remains a good choice. It has always been one of my favourite Italian whites, dry without being drab, and frequently priced around the £6 mark. 

It has things against it. People have trouble pronouncing its name, insisting that it is verdeetchio and getting cross when told it isn’t. But in fact the soft double “c” - as in Puccini - becomes hard when followed in Italian by an “h.” which means that verdickio is what  you should call it.

Nor is its provenance a strong selling point. The Marche region on Italy’s east coast, from which it comes, is not a top holiday place, at least for the British, though Pesaro, birthplace of Rossini, is a lovely resort. a cyclist’s paradise where seaside and academic life mix to perfecton, and where the beauiful inland city of Urbano is within easy reach. On the seafront stands an eye-catching villa in what the Italians call the Liberty style, but which we identify as Art Nouveau. The local wines, including Verdicchio, are delicious.

But another factor against Verdicchio seems to be  that it often comes in what is deemed to be an uninviting amphora-shaped bottle, which people treat with suspicion. But it’s a trend - the bottle, that is - which, in my experience, is gradually receding, and good Verdicchio is increasingly sold in standard bottles.

Both the examples currently stocked by Waitrose come this way. The first, a prize-winning 2013 Moncato Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico (the classico reference is important) at £5.99, is a tasty bargain wine with a hint of almonds, admirable with seafood or something vegetarian. The other, at almost double that price, is more special, a top Monacesca Verdicchio, fragrant and sumptuous, a fine companion for a good-sized sea bass, rather than the puny fish usually sold in Britain under that name. 

M&S’s rival pairing of Verdicchios, both good, consists of a classico (in an amphora-shaped bottle) at  7.99 and a dearer one at £9.49, while Sainsbury offers its Taste the Difference Verdicchio for £6.99.

13 September 2014