Cantina Fattoria Nannì, is an organic estate in Apiro in Macerata province in Le Marche, a region on the Adriatic coast of Italy. The estate was founded by Roberto Cantori in 2016. He makes Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore DOC white wines.

Founder-owner: Roberto Cantori. He is a qualified oenologist. He studied at the University of Ancona. He then studied Wine Export Management at the University of Camerino (Macerata province). He gained work experience in California (at Buena Vista in Carneros, Sonoma County), Portugal, and Tuscany. He also spent 6 years with the Moroder winery, in the Conerò area of the Marche region. Roberto’s first vintage here was 2016. His father Bruno was a butcher.

The name: Nannì because Roberto got the idea of creating his own estate thanks to Dott. Giovanni Piersigilli (‘Nannì’), who is from Apiro. When Piersigilli was young he left his native Marche for Piemonte. He worked in construction but fell in love with wine. He felt that despite being less famous than Piemonte, the Marche was qualitatively just as good. In 1967 Piersigilli planted a small vineyard in Arsicci and Apiro and became a founder member of the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC when it was created that same year. Roberto sees Persigilli as someone who demonstrated the real potential of the area.

Terroir: In the Contrada of Arsicci in the township of Apiro.This is one of the most southerly estates in the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi denomination. This is a dry, cool, luminous area protected by mountains. Monte San Vicino to the east acts as a shield. Monte Conero and the Adriatic are the the north-east. The town of Macerata is to the south-east. The Sibilline mountains are the to south-west. The altitude is 400-450 metres. In this part of Jesi (Apiro, Cupra) the vines mainly face the sea, not the mountains. The area is known for its calanchi, meaning this area is prone to erode and be washed away. Soils comprise clay, calcium carbonate, calanchi (for aroma), and sandstone (‘arenaria’). The More area is the north.

Site selection: Roberto told me that he chose to plant his vines on warmer, south-facing sites to offset the prevailing air currents which tend to be cold because airflows originate in the mountains. ‘We have cold weather at fruit set (‘allegazione’) and this can impact potential yields,’ he told me.

Vineyards: 2019 19ha of owned land in total. They own 5.5ha of vines (2ha newly planted), and rent 3.5ha of vines planted in 1950 which. Newly planted vines are on clay. Does have irrigation. The soil is mainly clayey sandy loam. One small plot is clay-sandy-loam. Lots of sandstone (‘arenaria’), some of which is quite hard, the rest can be broken up. 15% active limestone. pH is 8.19 and 8.1.

Viticulture: ‘Marche soils are normally low organic matter, so we sow cover crops. In 2018 these were Broad beans (Vicia faba) or ‘favino’, a legume for nitrogen, and mustard,’ Roberto told me at the estate in 2019.

Organic certification: 2021 Full organic certification due for the first time.

Winery: This was built from March 2018, ready for Cantorì’s first vintage, 2018 vintage.

Winemaking: The grapes are hand picked into perforated plastic bins. The grapes can be chilled before pressing.

Vintages: 2016 Picked in early October. | 2017 Picked early Sept. | 2018 Picked Sept-Oct.

Production: 2018 280 quintals. 24,000 bottles of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore.

Bottle labels: Designed by Francesca Ballerini who is from Jesi. She has designed labels for Elisabetta Foradori. One (all?) of the labels shows Monte San Vicino.

White wines

Arsicci, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore: Entry level wine. It is named after the Contrada in which the estate is located. Arsicci means ‘dry’. The label shows the window of the house belonging to Giovanni Piersigilli (‘Nannì’) who inspired Roberto to create his own winery. Entry level. | 2018 Debut. 7,000 bottled (will be 12,000 bottles when younger vines are older). 12.5% alc. Hand picked into bins. Grapes kept overnight at 5 degrees. Pressed under Nitrogen as whole bunches. Juice (still cool) to steel tanks. No added yeast. Fermented at 22ºC. 1 months lees stirring in vat. Racked twice. SO2 added. No MLF. 3.30 pH. 6g of acid. Quite a crystalline style, clean with a prickle of CO2 (tasted at the winery in 2019). Export 4.60 + IVA. | 2018 12.5% alc. L01/19. Savoury yellow fruit, fluid and easy style, compact, several more years of life ahead (tasted 01 Dec 2019).

Origini, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore: The first wine Cantori produced. The name refers to ‘calanchi’, a local geological feature. The ‘calanchi’ are composed of sand which was once under the ocean and orginate from the erosion of Monte San Vicino. This vines are in front of the winery. | 2016 Debut vintage. Balanced. One of the best vintages in recent years by most accounts. Cold winter in 2015. Vegetative cycle was good. Rain in September and October. This slowed the maturation so Roberto picked in late Sept to early Oct. The wine still had some residual carbon dioxide with enjoyable, light yellow fruit with plenty of lift and softness when tasted at the winery in 2019. | 2017 12.5% alc. Only 9,000 bottles. Frost on 20 April. Hit yields badly. Then a dry year. Picked early September. 3 tonnes per hectare. Small and very yellow berries at harvest. Quite dense but crisp with decent balance when tasted at the winery in 2019. | 2018 12.5% (12.99 in reality). 16,500 bottles. Fermented for 20 days at 16-18C. Racked. Lees stirred twice weekly for the first 6 months, and then once every 10 days. The aim is to reduce the need for added sulfites, as lees are anti-oxidants. Stirring also extract aromas. Only one racking and one filtration. Nice bright yellow fruit with a bit of residual carbon dioxide when tasted at the winery in 2019.

Liqueurs: Nena e Vince: Roberto named this liqueur after his grandparents, Vince, a tough man who raised veal cows and cultivated sowable field crops (‘seminativo’); and Nena, his grandmother. The liqueur is made from a local wild cherry called Visciole, whose berries are small, quite bitter and very acidic. They are picked in July. The cherries are combined with an equal volume of sugar. This forms a marmelade. Then grapes are added as whole berries but without stems. A pumpover is performed to get the fermentation going. In November the first racking is made, and the marc is pressed lightly, more red grapes are added. When fermentation ends the liqueur rack and collect the juice. He sells to some ice cream makers. Nice red cherry liqueur fruit without huge amounts of alcohol.

Bibliography

Visit to the estate on Thursday 13 June 2019, late morning.

Contact

Azienda Agricola Cantori Roberto

Via Macerata 5,

62010 Montefano (MC), Italy.

Website: www.fattoriananni.it