Marche Bianco Litrozzo 2024, Colle Stefano

The nose is bright and inviting, with a mix of orchard and citrus fruits at the forefront—think green apple, pear skin, and a squeeze of lemon zest. Subtler layers add intrigue: chamomile, fennel frond, and a faint almond note that nods to Verdicchio’s signature character. There’s a breezy, almost alpine quality to the aromatics, as if the wine is carrying a whisper of the mountain air from Matelica’s high-altitude vineyards.
On the palate, the Litrozzo is clean and energetic, with racy acidity that drives flavors of Meyer lemon, tart green apple, and white peach. A gentle creaminess from lees contact softens the edges, creating a round mid-palate before finishing with a saline snap and a lingering citrus pith bitterness that makes the wine wonderfully food-friendly. Light to medium in body, with no tannin to weigh it down, it’s refreshing yet substantial enough to hold its own at the dinner table. The liter format only emphasizes its role: a bottle designed to disappear faster than you expect.

About the Winery

Tucked into the rolling hills of Matelica in Italy’s Marche region, Colle Stefano is a family-run estate that has quietly become a benchmark for pure, expressive Verdicchio. Founded in the 1970s by the Marchetti family, the winery sits at about 420 meters above sea level—one of the highest vineyard zones for Verdicchio. The cooler climate and limestone soils here produce wines that are leaner, more mineral, and more age-worthy than their coastal counterparts.

Since 1995, brothers Fabio and Stefano Marchetti have farmed their 20 hectares organically, committed to biodiversity and low-intervention methods long before they were buzzwords. The cellar philosophy is equally restrained: native yeast fermentations, stainless steel, and minimal handling to let Verdicchio’s character shine.

While Colle Stefano is best known for their age-worthy Verdicchio di Matelica DOC, the Litrozzo bottling is their playful side: a 1-liter ode to everyday drinking. It’s the kind of bottle you plunk down in the middle of the table with a sigh of relief—affordable, organic, and deliciously honest. For all its easy charm, though, it still carries the precision and stony backbone that make Colle Stefano one of Italy’s great Verdicchio producers.