We recently took a firm stance on Verdicchio, through the lens of new-to-the-US producer Terralibera: it’s a grape with complex, age-worthy potential. And there’s a powerful wave of quality producers landing on our tasting table.

We also mentioned Terralibera neighbor Stefano Zoli and his exceptional Matelica normale bottling (which, for $26, is a fave on our shelves). So we can’t resist taking things up a notch: the first release of his much-anticipated Riserva is here.

Sitting at almost 8g/l of acidity, it’s a bottle that pushes even our perception of Verdicchio. Hint: if classic Chablis and GG Riesling are your vibe, you will want to check out the details below.

Though he was originally the winemaker at Emilia-Romagna’s Sangiovese-focused Condé (Chiara Condello’s family estate), Stefano always dreamt of white wine. He eventually found that dream a couple hours south in the Marche’s Matelica, in one of the region's oldest plots of Verdicchio.

Compared to neighboring Castelli di Jesi (the area that's known better for Verdicchio) Matelica is further inland, with higher elevation and smaller, quality-driven production. Castelli di Jesi leans towards the Adriatic; Matelica towards the Apennine mountains. The terrain breathes acidity and phenolics into the grapes; the wines are more tightly knit.

Stefano's vines 📷 via @stefano_zoli_vino

For Zoli, the Riserva is not just a finer version of his normale bottling; to be honest, the wines read completely different. While the normale is a village-style blend of his three vineyard sites and has that classic citrusy, herbaceous Verdicchio character; the Riserva is a single vineyard bottling from Vigna Belrespiro, the original vineyard he purchased and his oldest vines (about 70 years old).

And, it’s an absolutely electric, orchard-fruited counterpoint, vibrating with acidity despite its more developed fruit character. It's fermented in concrete, and while it's very intentionally not a skin-contact wine, there's just the slightest dash of skins included for "an extra touch of identity" as Zoli puts it. 2 years of aging in Italian ceramic clayver gives the wine room to stretch and breathe before an additional year in bottle.

A striking bottle that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s most celebrated white wines. SNAG ONE