Map of Italy | Our wines from this region
The Marche region is well known for the quality of its whites made from the prolific Verdicchio grape. Crisp, fresh Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi wines, easily recognisable from their green amphora bottles,
have impressed wine lovers on an international scale as great partners for seafood. However some exceptional modern wines can be found in standard bottles, many of them well-structured wines of great depth and character.
Although many commercially successful wines are produced in Castelli di Jesi, in the hills west of Ancona, it is in the mountainous terrain of Verdicchio di Matelica that the most distinguished wines are made, with a fuller mouthfeel and greater complexity than those from Jesi.
In terms of overall quality though, Verdicchio in all its forms undoubtedly ranks among Italy’s finest whites, with quality steadily improving for many years as producers have realised the grape’s potential for making interesting wines that are capable of developing in bottle.
Despite the dominance of the Verdicchio grape, some very fine reds are also made in this serene region on the Adriatic sea. Sangiovese and Montepulciano are important, both in blends and as single varietals. Two DOCGs exist in Conero and Vernaccia di Serrapetrona. Rosso Piceno is important in terms of volume, made largely from Sangiovese grapes grown in the DOC zone across the east of the region, from Ascoli Piceno to Senigallia’s rolling hills along the coast.
La Monacesca is the most awarded Verdicchio producer in Marche. With the highest quality wines in the Verdicchio di Matelica zone, they set the standard for other producers.
*Awarded three bicchiere more than 10 times!
The Farm owes its name to the settlement, around 900AD, to a small band of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Farfa who fled northern Italy under the scourge of the Lombards.
They decided to stay in this out-of-the-way place, and built a small church and a monastery (today perfectly restored and now part of the winery’s borgo, or hamlet); thus this splendid area took the name of Monacesca over time.
The name became the winery brand-name too in 1966, when Casimiro Cifola, having purchased the farm properties, began planting the first vineyards and built the first wine cellar. 1973 saw the release of our first Verdicchio di Matelica.
This signalled the departure point for an extraordinary adventure. Starting in 1982, Casimiro was joined by his son Aldo, the current director of the winery.
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