Peruzzi is a producer of sparkling wines in the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC in the Le Marche region of Italy.

Owner: Liana Peruzzi.

Background: The Peruzzi family originated in Vicenza in the Veneto region of Italy and had winemaking experience. The family produced its first traditional method sparkling wines in the Marche in 1988 under husband-and-wife Bruno (then aged 45) and Dolores Peruzzi (aged 40). Dolores was born in Dalmatia when it was under Italian rule. (Some of the earliest settlers in Le Marche 5,000 years ago were from Dalmatia.). Bruno was a director of a wine estate in the Veneto. They had settled in Ancona in 1979, having got to know the area having had a seaside house here. They bought what is now Peruzzi after their children had become adults. It consisted of a ruined stone house located in the bottom of a valley in Monte Roberto. Long-since deserted, it had fig trees growing out of the roof. The land had been abandoned, there were no vines. The couple planted Verdicchio vines (see below) as a hobby vineyard, for home consumption. They also added olive trees. They released their first Spumante Metodo Classico in 1988. Its success led them to build a winemaking cellar (an old one under the house was not suitable). In 1998 one of the daughters, Liana, who was in her forties, left her full-time job to join her father making the wine (she had come to Mount Roberto every year for vacation). Shortly thereafter Bruno died. Although her father had experimented with aromatic grapes like Moscato Bianco to go alongside Verdicchio, Liana focused only on the latter.

Vineyards: 1980-1982 Vines planted on abandoned land: 80% Verdicchio, 20% Trebbiano, Malvasia, Moscato, Montepulciano and Sangiovese. | 1999 | 3 acres of Verdicchio in the communes Monte Roberto and Maiolati Spontini. When Bruno and Dolores  arrived here in 1988 there were around 2.8ha (7 acres) of uncultivated land which was overgrown. Now there are four vineyard plots in two separate areas near each other. The higher part (La Romicé) above the house comprises a more open vineyard. The lower part near the river is called Fossato (the name of the river). The valley bottom location means there is a risk of downy mildew (peronospera). But being cool the site helps preserve high acidity levels in the grapes. ‘We do not deleaf,’ Liana told me, ‘we want that acidity.’ South-east facing. The soil is argillaceous. Spontaneous wild sward with a plethora of wild plants.

Wild plants: During my visit in 2019 I walked the estate with Liana and we found many wild plants (far more than are listed here): Daucus carota (wild carrot). | Pulicaria dysenterica (Common fleabane). | Sanguisorba minor (salad burnet). | Others included Artemesia, Asensio family, Cardo family, Convolvolo, Falsa fragola, Helmithothecca echoides, Ingrassa pecore, Lactuca virosa, Linaria, Mecilotus, Melissa, Mint, Orchids, Ortica, Pastinacca, Picris ieracione, Romice, Silene Alba, Sulla, Trifolium pratense (red clover).

Organic certification: Liana ensured the estate became certified organic. | 2004 First vintage with full organic certification.

Winery: An underground structure was added in 1990, the original one not being ‘a norma’ or up to regulatory norms.

Winemaking: The wine is essentially hand-made by the producer, Liana Peruzzi. No green harvest. Need help at picking. Small Bucher press. 7 cycles per day of 200kg of grapes. Each cycle lasts between 2 and 2.5 hours. From 200kg of grapes there is 100kg of juice. Need to know which row to pick on that particular day. Racked off gross lees. Base wines ferment at 14ºC and no higher than 16ºC. The first fermentation lasts one month. Liana told me she tries to allow the second fermentation in bottle to be wild, with native yeasts (eg. via still fermenting juice). No MLF normally (2018 was an exception). Filtration occurs pre-bottling, but only if needed. Carton filter. No bentonite. Wants a pressure of around 4 bar.

Production: Around 2,000–5,000 bottles annually.

Sparkling wines

Rosato: Classic method. 200 bottles. Made from Montepulciano, Sangiovese and sometimes a bit of Verdicchio to help dilute the colour. It can be made from must from the previous year which has been kept frozen. Time on skins for the red grapes depends on the year. 

Peruzzi: 100% Verdicchio. Classic method. | 2009 12.5%. 7.5 g/l residual sugar.

Peruzzi, Dosage Zero: 2015 Classic method. 100% Verdicchio. Pick mid-August with sugars at 16-17 babbo. Bottled without dosage. Want a low bar or pressure for this wine, around 4 or 5. 12.5% alc. 1g7l residual sugar. Good with fatty food. I do not want a wine which dominates at the table,’ Liana told me at the estate in 2019.

Contact

Peruzzi

Via Calapina, 14

60030 Monte Roberto 8(AN), Italy

Tel+39 0731 701990