Scritto da Roger Sesto – Dicembre 2012
Pubblicato in – IL VINO DELLA SETTIMANA

Written by Roger Sesto On 2 Dicembre 2012. Posted In Il Vino Della Settimana

What are the best vintages of Verdicchio di Matelica Vigneto Fogliano stored in the cellar or that can be found in restaurants or wine shops?
“In reality,” says the winery’s agronomist and oenologist, Aroldo Bellelli, “we love all our vintages, and it’s difficult to choose some over others, also because our terroir guarantees a certain
quality consistency even in the less fortunate climatic harvests.”

But if you were really forced to list a few?
“If I had to name some particular vintages, I would definitely start with the amazing 1988, the original 1991 and 1992, the complex 1998 (a unique vintage, in which we also produced the Senex, released after many years of aging), with its memories of star anise, ripe yellow peaches, acacia and chamomile, the classic 2001 and the still young and evolving 2006 and 2007.”

Bellelli explains: “Since its birth – the early 1980s – Bisci has always intended to market its
Verdicchio no earlier than two years after the harvest; this is because both the characteristics of the vine:
particularly generous in acidity, and the particular terroir: altitude and climatic conditions with high
temperature excursions, not only allow the production of wines with a high propensity for aging, but
even the ability to enhance themselves with the passing of the years, especially in terms of the development of complex
tertiary aromas”.

– Identity-based and paradigmatic, it is appreciated for its lively, sober, harmonic drink –
The version of Verdicchio di Matelica Vigneto Fogliano 2006 today presents a splendid straw yellow dress, vivid and brilliant. The bouquet is still very fresh, with fragrant hints of citrus:
grapefruit; white flowers: acacia and hawthorn; then memories of fresh almonds, lemon balm leaves, mineral notes that the wine – opening up – increasingly enhances, almost to the point of evolving into a sensation of stone dust.
In the mouth, Fogliano, as a good Verdicchio di Matelica as it is, does not concede even a millimeter, does not descend to sycophantic compromises, is austere, dry, very savoury, having progressively the same vibrant “stony” minerality already perceived on the nose, with a finish that becomes even salty, supported by a clear acidic freshness and a bracing alcoholic heat, in the name of a very calibrated balance and great vivacity; the pulp is well present, but not overflowing, for an almost textbook persistence.

Price: about 10-12 Euros for the 2008 vintage
Score: 89/100 (excellent value for money)
Before the market, 15 months of cement and 3 months of bottle

The Bisci farm consists of a surface area of about 75 hectares, all located in the territory of Verdicchio di Matelica. The hectares of vineyards are 19 hectares, of which 13 are Verdicchio. Facing south, the vineyard is on a medium hill, between 300 and 350 m above sea level, on clayey-subalkaline soils, strongly calcareous. The Fogliano vineyard is obtained from the vinification of a selection of grapes from the best vineyards and produced only in the most favorable years, marketed after at least 18 months of aging, of which 3 in the bottle.