Marche
Matelica
What makes a great white wine? Most well informed wine lovers tend to go to the regions of Burgundy, Mosel, Rheingau and Wachau and talk of the combined attributes of ripe (but not over-ripe) fruit, laced with minerality and natural acidity. German and Austrian Rieslings as well as white Burgundies are well known to posses this trilogy of attributes which creates the possibility for a fourth which is the ability to live and develop in bottle into something sublime. The Marches' better Verdicchio's have these same attributes and in Spades! The Gambero Rosso's top category for white tre-bicchierri winners is in fact Verdicchio and yet here in the USA we are still essentially asleep with regard to the greatness of these wines. Belisario is a coop in the Matelica zone and has taken a page from the best coops of the Alto-Adige in the fact that they are producing wines second to none in their area. Only the prices are a tip off that they are not a small family estate. Four wines, all unique, and all bargains for what they deliver.
Staffolo
Valerio Canestrari has assumed control of the seminal estate that his father Lucio Canestrari and mother Fiorella established over the last 4 decades. Fatt. Coroncino was among the early names involved in elevating the quality and image of Verdicchio in the Marche. Early on he was also a darling of the wine press, garnering all of the awards, bunches and glasses alike. These days the wines pretty much sell themselves (we actually had to wait a few years to get some allocations carved out for us) so Lucio didn't go out of his way to impress the writers and reviewers. Although the AIS reliably gives 5 bunches each year to at least two of them.
All of the wines are called Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore (Verd d CdJ Cl Sup), meaning they are from the historical "classico" zone and and are produced from grapes grown with more limited yields than those that don't carry the Superiore designation. In fact Coroncino's yields are just over half of the more stringent Superiore rule. Organic but not certified or a member of any organization. (Lucio was the type of guy who wouldn't be a member of any club that would have him.) Il Bacco, the base wine, is a blend of the two cru's. Il Coroncino is a cru defined by soil and exposure of higher clay content and an E - NE exposure. Gaiospino, the most celebrated of Coroncino's wines sits on calcareous marl looking SW.