Collestefano

On the cool pre-Apennine hills of the Matelica area, in the western Marche region, stands the family-run Collestefano winery, the creator of crystal-clear expressions linked to the territory. The estate is located precisely in Castelraimondo, amidst the hills of the Camertina Valley, where the Marchionni family arrived in the 1960s, bringing with them their rural cultural background. The turning point came in 1998, however, when Fabio Marchionni, a recent graduate in oenology, bottled the first vintage of Verdicchio di Matelica, initiating the winery's definitive qualitative growth.
The Collestefano estate has almost 20 hectares of vineyards, located at about 400-450 metres above sea level and reserved mainly for the area's symbolic vine: Verdicchio, alongside which are other varieties such as Maceratino (or Ribona), Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Barbera. These grapes grow on vineyards that are very heterogeneous in terms of soil composition, with soils of alluvial origin in certain parcels, characterised by a high presence of pebbly skeleton, silt and clay, medium-textured soils with a good presence of active limestone in other sub-zones and rock and sand conformation in other vineyards. The Marchionni family has always cultivated the land according to a sustainable approach, culminating with organic certification in 1995, applying organic fertilisation and limited use of copper in plant protection. Vinification is traditional, always aimed at respecting the raw material, with fermentation and ageing on fine lees in steel and limited additions of sulphites, solely to protect the wine from oxidation.
The most representative wine of the Collestefano winery is undoubtedly its Verdicchio di Matelica, a fresh, balanced and perfumed interpretation deriving from a blend of Verdicchio grapes harvested in the winery's various vineyards, differentiated by exposure, soil and microclimate. This is a white wine with a typical character characterised by a remarkable aromatic cleanliness, striking for its simplicity and pleasantness.