Borrowing the title of Ben Stiller's film, "Young, Cute and Unemployed," we must say that instead Riccardo Baldi he is young, cute and very busy. Just 28 years ago, in fact, part of that nouvelle vague district of the Castles of Jesi that he is doing all he can to bring back the Verdicchio at the levels of excellence and fame it deserves. A commitment born in 2009, when he abandoned his university studies in Economics and Commerce and chose to take care of the small estate acquired by his father, in 2004. Curious, stubborn and sensitive, he immediately produced wines that liked and collected prizes, until arriving in 2018 on the pages of "The New York Times", reported as the producer of one of the best 20 wines in the world under 20 dollars.
Most of the vineyards are located around the winery, in the district of Castellaretta, in the municipality of Staffolo, about 400 meters above sea level. The processing goes far beyond the organic certification and is based on a careful study of soil and plants, aimed at understanding how to minimize the use of copper. Riccardo's attentions continue in the cellar, where grapes are processed with respect, naturalness and with a maniacal research that, since 2016, has led him, for example, to use only indigenous yeasts for vinification. The Staffa includes 12 hectares of vineyard for a production of about 50,000 bottles a year. Today Verdicchio products are three, two reserves and this "base" wine that, as also underlined by "The New York Times", is one of the best Italian white wines for quality / price ratio. It is an elegant and savory wine, with a measured body and delicate aromas of broom and hay flowers, which make it a great companion to the table. You can drink immediately, but the advice is to make a good stock, because after a few years in the bottle is even more amazing.
Why now: the bottles produced are just under 40,000, but now that it has been discovered by the Americans it could become untraceable.
As did: fermentation in steel and cement tanks, refining on the lees in cement tanks for about three months; it is a cuvée of several vineyards, planted between 1972 and 2010 on clayey-calcareous soils, with an important component of calcium carbonate, which gives the unmistakable saline footprint to the wines of La Staffa.
To combine with: fish appetizers, first courses of land, second courses of fish, fresh cheeses.
Serve it at: 8-10 ° C.
Price: 10 euros.
vinilastaffa.it
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