We are in the Marche region, on the hills in the province of Macerata, in Serrapetrona, a small village at about 500 meters high, halfway between the valleys of the Potenza and Chienti’s rivers. Here we found The Alberto Quacquarini Agricultural Company.
The company owns 35 hectares of vineyards planted with Vernaccia Nera (Black Vernaccia), following the canons of the organic specification. From the noble grape of the Black Vernaccia, a treasure is born, an enological excellence of the Marche: Vernaccia di Serrapetrona, which obtained the Doc in 1971 and the Docg in 2004.
This special kind of wine, the only Docg red sparkling wine undergoing three distinct and consecutive fermentations, is produced in a very restricted area, in the municipality of Serrapetrona and, in part, in the neighboring municipalities of Belforte del Chienti and San Severino Marche. Consequently, the production of Vernaccia is very limited and the Quacquarini’s family is the largest producer of Vernaccia of Serrapetrona Docg.
We recommend going to visit the semidarkness, where the grapes harvested in autumn are hung up and left to dry for 3 months: scents, colors and emotions that leave you breathless.
A special welcome to the “Azienda Agricola Alberto Quacquarini” among our Treasures of Italy 2019.
Serrapetrona is a village in the hinterland of Macerata, in the heart of central Italy, where the mountain has preserved its origins: the pungent cold of winter and the Mediterranean climate of the summer have preserved a nature in perfect balance with man. This is the land of origin of Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Docg. The Alberto Quacquarini Company is the largest producer of Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Docg with 35 hectares of vineyards planted with Vernaccia Nera, used almost exclusively for the production of Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Docg.
The business history of the Quaquarini’s family of Serrapetrona began in 1958, when Alberto Quacquarini intended to enhance and invest in the Vernaccia di Serrapetrona, a unique and inimitable resource. Over the years, Vernaccia acquired the DOC recognition in 1971 and the Docg one in 2003.The sons Monica, Luca and Mauro at present run the business. From 1958 to the present many changes and investments have been made to increase and develop the activities. The new sparkling and winemaking cellar, the purchase of new autoclaves and fermenters, the purchase of new land for new vineyards are examples.
Vernaccia di Serrapetrona has gradually gained a reputation in Italy and in all over the world: it is exported to China, Japan, America and of course in many European countries.
The history of the Quacquarini’s family tells us how the love for the territory, the passion for work, the respect for people, the trust in the future can become tools for the growth of a company. Through its products, the Alberto Quacquarini Company wants to convey the pleasure of drinking and eating well and to make it clear that behind each product there are important values and people who work hard to preserve these values in the utmost respect of all consumers.
Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Docg
To produce Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Docg, the noble Vernaccia Nera grape vine is used. The vineyards are small and not very lush in the vegetation and in the number of clusters, so that their average production is around 80 ql. per hectare. In the Alberto Quacquarini Company only the grapes grown on their own are vinified. The peculiar characteristic of this wine lies in the particular method of winemaking; it is in fact the only red Docg sparkling wine to undergo three different and successive fermentations.
The winemaking method
The vinegar finishing takes place above all in the drying rooms where bunches are hung and left to dry for 3 months. The new harvest of naturally dried grapes is make only since January: the must is a fiery ruby red, sweet and dense like honey. It is poured and fermented in the October wine, then combining the freshness of the recent harvest with the richness of the withered bunches. The new wine, matured in the cool cellars, fermented again for sparkling wine. This is how sparkling wine is enrich with the last precious and decisive aromas, enclosing an aromatic complexity, the elegance of a fine international elite beading and a distinct and always identifiable flavour. The complex production process means that Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Docg is putting on the market no earlier than one and a half years after the harvest.
Translated by Valentina Di Martino and Céline Alcala
Contatti
Alberto Quacquarini Soc. Agr. Semplice
Via Colli 12, 62020 Serrapetrona (MC)
Tel: +039 0733 908180
Email: info@quacquarini.it
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