Francesco Campanelli

In the hills of San Paolo di Jesi, in the historic heart of the Castelli di Jesi, Francesco Campanelli founded his winery on a single conviction: that Verdicchio — Italy’s great white grape, in its greatest homeland — has not one voice, but many. And that each deserves to be heard on its own.

That’s why the estate doesn’t simply make Verdicchio. It makes Verdicchios — from vineyard parcels scattered across the appellation’s storied geographic mentions: Palombare, San Michele, San Nicolò, Le Contrade. Each site has its own altitude, its own exposure, its own temperament — from the lower slopes nearest the Adriatic breezes to the higher, cooler hills inland — and each is harvested, vinified, and bottled separately, so that no nuance gets lost in the blend.

The method is as rigorous as the idea is simple. The vineyards are farmed organically and picked entirely by hand, in small crates. In the cellar, the grapes are chilled, pressed softly, and only the free-run must is fermented — then the wines rest patiently on their fine lees in steel and cement, gaining depth without losing an ounce of freshness. Nothing flashy, nothing borrowed: just precision in service of place.

The first bottle to carry the name — the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Palombare — announced the ambition plainly: energy, refinement, and a sense of somewhere. The wines that followed have kept the promise.