The Italian region of Marche covers 24.590 hectares of vineyards spread over four provinces with 13 DOC zones, two DOCG zones and one IGT-Zone. The capital is Ancona. The region is in central Italy on the Adriatic coast, in the west bordering the regions of Tuscany and Umbria. The Verdicchio is the most famous white wine of the Marche. The autochthonous white grape probably comes from the Greco-Trebbiano family. In the last 15 years, the vineyard has shrunk by about 20%. The number of winegrowers also fell sharply; Over 90% of the winegrowers have less than 2 ha and produce mainly for their own use.
The Adriatic Sea and the mountains of the Tuscan Apennines to the west create a cool, temperate climate. The vineyards are almost exclusively on slopes with clayey soil. The most common varieties are the white Trebbiano, Maceratino, Pecorino, Verdicchio, Pinot Blanc, Pinot gris and Malvasia, as well as the red Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Lacrima di Morro and Vernaccia di Serrapetrona. Red and white wines are produced half each. Almost half of the wine production comes from the province of Ascoli Piceno, 30 percent comes from the province of Ancona.
The main producing areas are the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi (41%), the Rosso Piceno (27%) and the Falerio dei Colli Ascolani (7%). The annual production amounts to approx. 1.6 million hl.