Vernaccia di Serrapetrona
In the hills of the province of Macerata, about 60 kilometres inland, Serrapetrona makes something rare: a red sparkling wine, dry or sweet, from Vernaccia Nera. The zone covers all of Serrapetrona and parts of San Severino Marche and Belforte del Chienti. Half of it is mountain country between 500 and 1,000 metres, where vines stop at 700; the other half is high and middle hills between 250 and 500 metres, planted throughout. Continua a leggere ↓
- Livello
- DOCG
- Regione
- Marche
Vernaccia di Serrapetrona in breve
In the mountains the soils are thin and stony, lying straight on the limestone ridges — outcrops along the Cesolone stream, cherty limestones and the red and grey marly limestone called scaglia. Lower down they are calcareous and stony, on sandstone and clay topped by marine sands, the last trace of the sea.
The wine must be at least 85 per cent Vernaccia Nera. Part of the grapes is dried indoors until its must reaches at least 13 per cent potential alcohol, and that must is blended with the wine from fresh grapes, before or after fermenting; the whole then becomes sparkling through natural refermentation. It may not be sold before the 30th of June of the year after the harvest, and only in bottles of up to three litres. Vernaccia di Serrapetrona became a DOC in 1971 and a DOCG in 2004.