Pontemagno

Pontemagno is a label of the excellent Verdicchio producer, Piersanti, which is located in the village of Ponte Magno, some 27 miles inland from Ancona. The company was started in 1955 by Giovanni Piersanti in the nearby village of Santo Paolo de Jesi.

It’s now run by his grandson, Ottavio, who has built tremendously on the work of his father Carlo and grandfather, moving the emphasis away from the sparkling wines which were their specialty to table wines. Since the 1980s they’ve had a very practical, large winery which enables them to process grapes from 40 ha of their own vines and from a further 200 ha belonging to growers. More romantic are their stunningly beautiful vineyards which are situated in the valley of the Castelli di Jesi sub-region of Verdicchio, the ‘castelli’ referring to the 22 fortified villages which make up the appellation. Planted on slopes of valleys which run down to the Adriatic, the Apennines form a wonderful backdrop to these vineyards.