MARCHE RED IGT "LE DERIVE" 2018 - THE EXPAND

Appellation : Marche IGT

Vintage : 2018

Alcohol : 13.5%

Region : Marche (Italy)

Format : 0.75 l

Grapes : Montepulciano 40%, Sangiovese 45%, Vernaccia Nera 15%

Vineyard: cru San Michele a Cupramontana – Age of the vineyard 10 years
Pruning and average yield per plant: Sapling pruning. Yield around 1 kg per plant.
Plant density: 6,000 plants/hectare.
Soil and subsoil: Clayey-limestone with layers of sandstone, marl and gypsum.
Vinification: Spontaneous fermentation. Maceration in open wooden vats (about 15 days for Sangiovese and Vernaccia; up to 30-35 days for Montepulciano). Aging in used barriques for 3-4 years.
Total sulphites: <20 mg/l
Average quantity produced: 1,000 bottles a year.
Type of bottle and closure: Burgundy, with cork stopper

The La Distesa farm was born in 2000 from the desire of Corrado Dottori to produce wines that respect the territory, vines and the environment. Wines that are not homologated to the dominant international taste.
In the nine hectares of vineyards in the municipalities of Cupramontana and San Paolo di Jesi, in the province of Ancona, characterized by clayey soils rich in limestone and sandstone, agriculture is conceived as a living ecosystem, in balance between the energy of the wild and the strength of the human.
For years we have been working in the vineyards trying to safeguard and let biodiversity express itself to the maximum, sowing field beans, vetch, peas, alfalfa, mustard among the rows and letting the spontaneous essences thrive.
The physiology of the vine is respected: you don't top it, you prune it respecting the natural propensity for branching, you don't defoliate it, you don't work the under-row except by crushing it with your feet or manually cutting excess weeds. It is not fertilized, it is treated only with sulfur from the mine and small doses of copper. Nettle and horsetail teas are used; in autumn and spring the biodynamic preparations 500 (horn manure) and Fladen (Maria Thun) of the Le Madri Foundation are sprayed.
In the farms of La Distesa there is never monoculture: woods, hedges, trees, reed beds, grasslands alternate with arable land (where the right rotations and light tillage maintain fertility), with olive groves (which are not treated), with vineyards.

In the cellar, located in the sunny district of San Michele di Cupramontana - the capital of Verdicchio - the grapes are vinified in a natural way, to obtain a limited production of bottles (about 35,000 a year), destined for haute cuisine, wine bars and to individuals. "Being winemakers for us means inhabiting the area - explains Corrado - with its thousand complexities, and following the seasons, with their ever-changing evolutions".