La Valle Del Sole, Marche Passerina - Italy, 2022
Fast Facts
Vintage: 2022
Winemaker(s): Alessia and Valeria Di Nicolò
Region: Offida, Marche, Italy
Varietal(s): Passerina
Terroir: Medium-textured clay soils at 300 meters elevation
Serving Temp: 45-55°F
La Valle Del Sole sits in the medieval village of Offida, perched at 300 meters where the vineyard looks both east toward the Adriatic, and west toward the Sibillini peaks. The Di Nicolò family planted their first vines here in the 1960s, and those original parcels are still producing, some now 60 years old. When the grandfather started, he took cuttings from local vines as the old sharecropping system was ending, preserving biotypes of Passerina and Montepulciano that might otherwise have been lost.
Today, sisters Alessia and Valeria are run the estate as the fourth generation to work this land. They went organic in 1989, and they've stayed focused on Marche's native varieties: Passerina (named after the sparrows that can't resist the ripe berries), Pecorino, and Montepulciano. That positioning between mountain and gives a constant interplay of cool alpine breezes and warm coastal air, offering a mineral salinity that keeps it all super fresh in your glass.
Everything is hand-harvested in mid-September. After a gentle pressing, the Passerina ferments slowly in concrete tanks and sits on fine lees for six months, developing texture and complexity. The whole estate produces just 40,000 bottles a year across all their wines. This is super tiny, with hands-on farming where the sisters know every parcel intimately.
Why'd we pick it?
Passerina nearly disappeared. For decades it was dismissed as a blending grape because of low yields, only worth using to add a little elegance to bulk wines. The recent revival of native Marche varieties saved it, and now small producers like the Di Nicolò sisters are showing what it can really do. Marche wines in general are special, incredibly coastal and unique.
Field Notes
- Tastes like: Bright lemon zest and white flowers like acacia and jasmine. Ripe peach and an herbal edge that keeps it in check. Minerality is the real star, with the stony, saline quality running through the whole wine. Crisp acid throughout and finishing clean with pleasant almond bitterness.
- Serve it at right from the fridge but don't bother chilling it again. Let it warm up as you share it. The floral and herbs will keep showing up as it gets up to room temp.
- Pair this one with seafood. A whole oven roasted cod with lemon and garlic, or get some clams and hit the spaghetti alle vongole. Raw oysters are also a perfect combo. Late-season grilled asparagus with parm and lemon also fits nicely.
