Collestefano

From sharecropping roots to Collestefano

The Marchionni family came from a farming and sharecropping background. During the 1960s they arrived at Rustano di Castelraimondo, in the Verdicchio di Matelica valley. Years of agricultural work enabled the family to buy a small mid-slope hamlet in 1978. The place had long been known as Collestefano and gave the estate its name.

The family sought to recreate elements of its former mixed-farming life at the new property. A small stable was established for two or three cattle kept for household use, alongside pigs and other domestic animals. This activity continued through Fabio Marchionni’s cousin Enzo and his family.

The first family vineyard

The vineyard now called Vigna del Capannone was the first planted by the Marchionni family. Its data panel assigns it to 1987, while the accompanying family account places the planting in 1988, nine years after the property purchase. Fabio and his father, Benedetto Marchionni, travelled in a Fiat 131 to ASSAM, the Marche development agency, to seek replanting rights. The generous 3 × 2 m layout—about 1,600 vines per hectare—reflected the agronomic practice of the period following deep ploughing to approximately 1 m.

In 1991 the family constructed the shed that later gave Vigna del Capannone its name. It was built for the wedding of Fabio’s sister Fabiola; Benedetto made all its windows in his workshop during a single night.

Organic conversion and foundation

Organic farming began in the family vineyards by 1995 and received certification that year. Vigna del Pozzo is identified as the first vineyard placed under organic cultivation in the Matelica area. The vineyard formed part of the wider ecological system of the farm before Collestefano’s commercial foundation.

Collestefano was founded in April 1998 with three vineyards. That year Fabio Marchionni, newly graduated in Oenology and the son of the property owners, bottled his first vintage of Verdicchio di Matelica. The estate presents this release as the beginning of a new phase for Matelica.

Development of the vineyard holdings

Vigna della Stalla dates from 2000. Its name preserves the memory of the small livestock stable created after the 1978 acquisition.

In 2008 Collestefano purchased Vigna Elena, its first vineyard acquisition after the company’s foundation. The purchase coincided with the birth of Fabio’s first daughter, Elena, after whom the vineyard was named. A clonal field was established on the western margin at planting, using a presumed Verdicchio clone Fabio had identified in old family vineyards.

Vigna dell’Orto was planted in 2009. Vigna del Pozzo carries the dates 2009 and 2017, indicating planting or redevelopment in those years.

Vigna Le Prata was established in 2015 in the municipality of Pioraco. Its alluvial soils and position beside the Potenza river gorge distinguish it from the sandstone- and sand-derived vineyards around Collestefano.

Vigna Serena followed in 2016. In 2017 the estate established or completed Vigna Frana, Vigna Pendente and Vigna Pianetta, as well as part of Vigna del Pozzo. Vigna Pendente was described as the last vineyard created on the estate that year.

Living mulch research and the contemporary cellar

From 2017 onward, new vineyards incorporated living wild-strawberry mulch beneath the rows. In October 2017 Fragaria vesca was planted throughout the under-row area of Vigna Pianetta. The University of Agricultural Sciences of Ancona collaborated with the estate on the project, while an erosion thesis was installed at Vigna Pendente. Within approximately one and a half to three years, the strawberry cover had colonised the entire under-row surface in the documented trial.

A newer winery site was subsequently organised so that the principal racking operations could be performed by gravity. The production approach remained traditional, with an emphasis on protecting the fruit and limiting sulfur dioxide to levels well below the legal ceiling.

Collestefano lies in Valle Camertina in central Marche, above Castelraimondo. The hillside hamlet is placed at approximately 450 m, while vineyards used for the current Verdicchio and Marche Bianco bottlings in Collestefano and Rocca Franca are described at approximately 420 m. The estate’s recorded coordinates are 43°12′26.7″N, 13°01′38.5″E.

Valle Camertina is enclosed from maritime winds and consequently has a temperate inland climate. The property sits in open countryside below the mountains. The Potenza river gorge cuts between Monte Primo and Monte Castel Santa Maria. At night, cold air descends from the mountains and, more forcefully, through the gorge into the vineyard zone. Vigna Le Prata receives warm upslope air during hot daytime hours and very cold descending air at night, producing a pronounced diurnal range. North-facing ridges can also benefit from regular air exchange and vineyard ventilation.

The vineyards occupy a foothill landscape near the Umbria-Marche Apennines. Monte Vettore and the Sibillini mountains lie to the south, while Monte Catria lies to the north. Slopes among the individually documented sites range from 4% to 25%, with Vigna Pendente additionally presenting a compound slope of roughly 20% downhill and 15% across.

Around Collestefano, alternating sandy and clay formations create highly variable soil profiles. Medium-textured soils, limestone and abundant rocky skeleton recur across the holdings, while clay generally increases farther downslope. North-facing clay-rich positions can be vulnerable to landslides. Important underground water sources occur around mid-slope, including springs found at approximately 14 m in Vigna del Pozzo.

Vigna Le Prata differs markedly from the main Collestefano sites. It has alluvial soils with abundant pebbly skeleton, silt and clay rather than the local sandstone and sandy matrix; active limestone is below 10%. Across current Verdicchio holdings, the broader soil description is a limestone-rich mixture of sand, loam and clay with predominantly north-eastern exposure.

Organic practice predates Collestefano’s commercial foundation and has been certified since 1995. Vigna del Pozzo is identified as the first vineyard converted to organic cultivation in the Matelica area. A 2020 dossier identified the control body as CCPB srl, with code IT-BIO-009 and operator number BBI01.

The vineyards form part of a broader self-sustaining and ecologically balanced farm system. Soils receive only organic manure, while copper use is kept to a minimum. No emergency irrigation has been needed in the documented vineyards. Perennial cover composed of favoured spontaneous plants is maintained at Vigna Serena. Vigna della Stalla combines alternate-row tillage with annual barley-and-field-bean cover and mechanical under-row cultivation.

From 2017, newly created vineyards adopted living mulch of local wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca. Two strawberry plants placed around each vine can form continuous under-row cover within two to three years, strongly suppressing weeds. At Vigna Pianetta, full colonisation was documented within three years and was already similar after about eighteen months. The project was developed with the University of Agricultural Sciences of Ancona, while Vigna Pendente hosted an erosion thesis.

A two-year participatory trial compared two and four strawberry plants per vine with an uncovered control. A horizontal blade weeder was used once annually in all treatments. Strawberry cover combined with the blade eliminated the need for further soil tillage, maintained full winter cover, reduced erosion risk and increased biological diversity. During a summer water-stress episode it did not alter vine transpiration, and both yield per vine and grape quality remained comparable to the control.

Verdicchio plant material includes Matelica clones propagated through mass selection. A clonal field at Vigna Elena uses material identified in old family vineyards, while Vigna Pianetta is devoted to a mass-selected clonal field. Training systems documented across the holdings include traditional double-overturned forms and mono- and bilateral Guyot. Pruning in Vigna Le Prata is carried out directly by estate personnel.

Harvesting is exclusively manual. Grapes are placed in small crates to preserve their integrity, and university students traditionally join the Marchionni family during harvest.

The newer cellar is arranged so that the principal racking operations can be carried out by gravity. The approach is traditional and designed to preserve the condition and identity of the harvested material. Sulfur dioxide is used sparingly and kept well below the permitted legal limit.

Across the estate’s principal still white production, the documented sequence includes gentle pressing, slow fermentation at low temperature, approximately four months of maturation on the lees in stainless steel and subsequent bottle ageing. Malolactic fermentation is avoided in the current Verdicchio and Marche Bianco protocols.

For the traditional-method sparkling wines from Vigna Le Prata, the base wine is gently pressed, slowly fermented at low temperature and held on its lees for four months in stainless steel. It is then bottled with yeast and 24 g per bottle of sugar for secondary fermentation. Bottles are placed on traditional pupitres for riddling before disgorgement and recorking. The zero-dosage versions receive no expedition liqueur; documented releases have spent approximately 18 to 30 months on their second-fermentation lees.