La Fuga - Montepulciano Bio

La Marca di San Michele has been making Verdicchio since 1928 in the hills of Cupramontana, in the province of Ancona. One of the oldest names in the Marche, and still one of the most focused. Alessandro and Beatrice run the estate today with a simple but uncompromising philosophy: one vineyard, one wine, no blending.

Six hectares at 400 meters above sea level, calcareous and clayey soils rich in marl and chalk, certified organic with biodynamic practices. No herbicides, no pesticides, minimal sulphur, no filtration. The wines are built on three things — acidity, salinity, and minerality — and they don't stray from that.

Verdicchio is their grape, with a small amount of Montepulciano for their rosé. Small production, 30,000 bottles, and every one of them tells you exactly where it's from.

Marche sits on the eastern side of Italy, stretching from the Apennines down to the Adriatic coast. It's one of those regions that doesn't shout — quiet, rural, and often overlooked in favour of its more famous neighbours. But that's exactly what makes it interesting.

The landscape shifts from cool mountain hills to coastal plains, and the soils — clay, limestone, marl — give the wines a natural tension and minerality. The climate is Mediterranean near the sea but cooler and more continental inland, which keeps the acidity alive.

The region's signature grape is Verdicchio, one of Italy's great white varieties, capable of real complexity and age. But Marche is also home to Montepulciano and Pecorino, grapes that are still finding the wider audience they deserve.