Italian Wine Regions - Marche
Danzante Sangiovese is sourced from Hillside vineyards in the Marche region, east of Tuscany, where the nearby Adriatic Sea guarantees a temperate climate. The deep, clay soils and southern exposure result in grapes of intense and spicy flavor. With an annual production of over 2 million hectoliters, the Marche region is one of Italy's most important wine growing regions.
History and Tradition
The area was occupied by the Umbri (from the Greek Ombrikoi ) and the Picentes (Greeks who called part of the region Picenum) since early Paleolithic times.
Colonized and organized by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C., the area was invaded by the Goths after the fall of the Roman Empire. In the 6th century, the northern part of today's Marches came under Byzantine rule. The southern section became part of the powerful Lombard duchy of Spoleto. In the 8th century, the region was donated to the papacy in two steps, first in 754 and then in 774. The papacy rule though, was largely nominal and later emperors granted various fiefs in the area to faithful underlings until the 13th century. The name Marche or "boundaries", was originated around the 10th century because the fiefs of Ancona, Fermo and Camerino were established at the border of the Holy Roman Empire. After being occupied briefly by the French from 1797 to 1815, it was restored to the papacy until 1860. For a period of time The Marches was joined to the kingdom of Sardinia along with Umbria and Tuscany.
The Wines
In this little known region the amount of red and white wines produced are almost equal.
The main regional white is the Verdicchio, a dry characteristically flavored white, made from at least 85% of the grape with the same name. Other whites include the Bianchello del Metauro, made near the Metauro River estuary on the north coast of Pesaro, as well as the Bianco dei Colli Maceratesi or, "White from the Macerata Hills", produced near Macerata, south of Ancona.
Among the reds, the Rosso Conero and the Rosso Piceno are particularly appreciated. The limestone-rich soil of places like the Mount Conero, combined with the dry maritime climate, contribute to giving the Montepulciano grapes that make up these wines their characteristic flavor.
Information gathered from www.winecountry.it