Colleleva
Treasures from Le Marche
by Anthony Lynch
Le Marche may well be Italy’s most underrated region. Featuring striking landscapes from mountains down to the Adriatic Sea, countless quaint villages largely ignored by tourists, and an irresistible local cuisine, it is a hidden treasure oozing with charm and authenticity. Its wines star grape varieties indigenous to central Italy and come from a diverse range of top-notch terroirs, offering unique character that often comes at incredible value.
Nothing could be truer of the wines of Colleleva, a project founded by banker-turned-winemaker Stefano Antonucci. When Stefano took over his father’s cooperative winery in the late ’80s, he brought the ambition to make the produce of Le Marche known beyond the region’s borders, investing heavily in quality to reach a wide audience by crafting precise wines saturated with local identity, all while remaining reasonably priced. These new arrivals represent his vision realized: delicious bottlings from a little-known corner of Italy, fit for any and every occasion.
2024 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
Italy | Le Marche
Le Marche’s chief white grape, Verdicchio, has always been Colleleva’s primary focus. A crisp, linear white with subtle aromas of flowers and herbs, this is an all-purpose bargain sipper made for aperitivo, salads, and seafood. The low alcohol and bright, saline finish make it a delightfully refreshing choice all summer and beyond.
2024 Rosso Piceno
Italy | Le Marche
For years, the northwestern Italian region of Piedmont has been the source of our most joyous weeknight Italian red wines, but Le Marche, halfway down Italy’s eastern Adriatic coast, is now rivaling Piedmont for that distinction. Even though it is primarily a white-wine region, Le Marche is also home to the red Montepulciano grape, which can yield highly joyous and food-friendly wines, as well as a smattering of Sangiovese. Situated in the foothills of the Apennines, Colleleva is the thirty-year-old project of Stefano Antonucci, who left his desk job to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to the vineyards surrounding his hometown of Barbara and revive interest in the region’s indigenous grape varieties. A blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese, this Rosso Piceno is our most recent addition to the delicious Colleleva lineup. It is blended and aged in stainless steel to preserve as much of its juicy exuberance as possible, with notes of red fruit and spice and seamlessly integrated tannin.
On top of its usual exuberance, the 2024 has a little bit of heft and structure, so I recommend pairing it with your favorite meat-forward pizza, braises, and roasts this fall and winter—not to mention Georgeanne Brennan’s delicious mussels in broth!
Click here for Georgeanne Brennan’s recipe for mussels in spicy tomato broth.