A Mouthful of a Name

OK, so I figured, as we lead into Halloween, the wines could use a little atmosphere for the photo. The setting does not necessarily imply that the wines themselves are scary.

243. 2006 Fazi Battaglia Le Moie Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore (DOC Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi - Italy)

Now, how's that for a mouthful? That in itself might be a bit scary.

The wine is perhaps a bit more simplistic than the name might suggest. Fazi Battaglia is the producer. Le Moie refers to the vineyards. Verdicchio is the grape varietal. And Castelli di Jesi is the region in the Marche province where the wine is produced.

The Marche region, in the past, has been a bit off-the-beaten-track. It follows the coastline of the Adriatic Sea to the East of the better known - and better travelled - Tuscany and Umbria. As in much of the rest of the country, and the world, wine production has improved with modernization and Marche wines are started to be taken a little more seriously.

Much, if not most, of the wine produced in the region is white and Verdicchio is the best known. It has been seen as a "lesser" varietal in the past; however, it is now seeing a bit of a boost in popularity and is being touted as one of Italy's finer native, white varietals. Being a particularly good match for seafood is often its claim to "fame." It is also often referred to as having a bit of a "bitter" finish - which does lends itself to being more of a match for food than a patio wine.

The varietal is still not commonly found in BC liquor stores. I only saw three wines listed on the BCLD website. However, as Italian wines gain in popularity, it will be interesting to see if Verdicchio becomes a more common wine and a little easier to pronounce.