La Distesa - 'Terre Silvate' - Verdicchio - Marche, IT - 2021

Farming: Organic (certified)
Age of vines: Planted in 1977, 1980, 1983, and 1991
Fining/Filtration: Unfined/Unfiltered
Fun facts: This wine contains grapes from four plots in the classical villages of Castelli di Jesi: Cupramontana and San Paolo di Jesi.
Appellation: Marche IGT

Winemaking: Native yeast fermentation in stainless steel and concrete vats. The wine rests on its lees for five to six months before bottling. A small amount of SO2 is added at press and at bottling, around 40mg per liter between the two additions.

La Distesa is located in San Michele, just outside of the picturesque commune of Cupramontana in the Marche. Its founder, Corrado Dottori, is originally from the area but was raised in Milan. Returning to his family’s property after a previous career in finance, he and his wife established an agriturismo in the abandoned villa of his family estate and set about restoring their single hectare of surrounding vines.
Corrado always knew that whatever he did with the land, the agricultural work would be organic. When he began cultivating grapes, he encouraged the surrounding biodiversity to benefit the vines, believing that agriculture is a living ecosystem, a balance between the energy of the wild and the strengths of man. The property currently consists of 8.5 hectares of vines, six hectares of barley/wheat/legumes in rotation, a couple hectares of olive trees, and a small vegetable garden.
The region is best known for the wines of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, where rolling hills, constant sun, and diurnal temperature shifts form a perfect environment for viticulture. At first, Corrado hired a winemaking consultant who used conventional practices. He slowly began to question this and, inspired by pioneers like Angiolino Maule and Stefano Bellotti, sought to make wine the way nature intended.
Many producers in this region are focused on varietal wines, whereas Corrado prefers focusing on the characteristics of specific sectors and vineyards. He is not dogmatic in his approach to viticulture: biodynamic preparations are used in the vines, but he does not go for any Steiner mysticism. Never satisfied with his efforts, his approach is honest, sensitive, and intrinsically tied to the land. We find this quote from La Distesa's website sums it up well:
“Come to think of it, my wines are just a means. The means by which I try to express myself, to represent myself in this world, to make sense of my rapid passage on earth... I would like this to be my wine. Something that speaks of Italy, of the Marche, of Cupramontana, of myself. Something that is poured into the glass to make people feel good. To get drunk with life. To make the vacuum a little more innocuous.”
We're not gonna lie: we are very excited to be representing these wines on a national level.