La Staffa Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Classico Rincrocca Riserva 2022

La Staffa is the work of Riccardo Baldi, who farms in the Castelli di Jesi zone of the Marche, inland from the Adriatic. Rincrocca is a single-vineyard Verdicchio Classico Riserva. The hills here are limestone and clay, cooled by breezes off the mountains and the sea, and this combination gives Verdicchio its firm acidity and its saline, stony character. The wine is aged twelve months in amphora and concrete, then a further year in bottle before release. Neither amphora nor concrete adds flavour, so the fruit stays clean and precise, while the porous clay of the amphora allows a slow, measured breath of oxygen that lends texture and depth without oak. Extended time on the fine lees rounds the palate and builds weight. The colour is bright straw, the nose shows lemon, green apple, white flowers and dried herbs, and the palate is taut and mineral, closing on Verdicchio's characteristic bitter-almond note and a long saline finish. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees.