Vertical of the iconic Verdicchio Villa Bucci (1)

In 2012 Luciano Lombardi Vignadelmar went to do a vertical tasting of the iconic Villa Bucci, at the winery and with Ampelio Bucci.
We feel we can do it again 12 years later and guarantee that the wines are not that different from those described in this magnificent vertical.

As widely reported in the trade press, the Marche-based Bucci winery (now called Villa Bucci), was recently sold.
The death of the very talented consultant Giorgio Grai first, and the inexorably advancing age later, convinced Ampelio Bucci that the time had come to sell the family business.
This had been talked about for some years but now the news is official.

We at DoctorWine, Daniele Cernilli, and I have always loved Villa Bucci.
Because of this, in 2012 I went to visit Ampelio at the company and had one of the most beautiful and formative verticals of my life. The following text, re-edited to center it only on the company’s flagship wine, was published then in two parts in DoctorWine.
We think it is nice and right to republish it to you as a mark of respect to Ampelio Bucci and Giorgio Grai, who have etched the enological history of Verdicchio and Italian wine in fiery letters.

I will end on a very personal note: When Ampelio Bucci read this piece he phoned me to thank me and to ask my permission to use it as a supplementary text to the company brochures, what do you say, was I happy with it?

Here is the article I wrote at the time.

Ampelio Bucci: the Verdicchio

Some friends accuse me of being monothematic, indeed, monomaniacal.
Of talking too often about Verdicchio.
As exculpatory evidence they also bring the fact that I named my bulldog Verdicchio.
How can I defend myself?
I don’t know, in fact I really don’t want to.
I know very well that they are right anyway; Verdicchio is a real passion for me.
Just to say, when Daniele Cernilli and I met, one of the bottles we downed was a magnificent magnum of Villa Bucci 1998, which I treasured for a very special occasion. So don’t be surprised that I brazenly went out of my way to organize and be invited to a exhaustive vertical of what I believe to be one of the two greatest Italian whites, precisely Villa Bucci, produced by Azienda Agricola F.lli Bucci in Ostra Vetere, Inland from Senigallia, in Contrada Pongelli. (For the record, in my opinion the other great Italian white is Valentini’s Trebbiano d’Abruzzo).

The organization of the vertical

Looking at it from the outside the thing looks simple enough, easy.
But then you phone all excitedly to Cernilli to tell him you’ve managed to arrange it, and he says to you with a ” intimidating” to take it seriously, that that wine and that producer deserve all the attention they can get, that “demands” exhaustive notes on every single vintage, in short I have to do a thorough job. All this because Daniele knows better than anyone else that that wine is a great wine and that producer is not an ordinary producer: he is Ampelio Bucci, a great winemaker, farmer and university professor in Milan.

Well, let’s start right here, from this last sentence.
In the days leading up to the visit I do my research, read magazines, guides, the Internet.
From the company website I draw few insights, it is old, technologically dated, not updated (Ampelio will later tell me which a completely new, up-to-date version, edited by one of his sons, will soon be online). I try to understand what kind of producer and what kind of production reality I will be facing.

Ampelio Bucci

His being a university professor makes me lean toward a set, serious type, all numbers and exhibited formal perfection.
Instead, Ampelio is a not too old gentleman, tall, from the clear and serene look, dresses vaguely alternative, on his wrist he wears leather bracelets in perfect 1970s style and on his feet plastic slippers.
All while conversing with you as if he has known you since time immemorial.

He runs the family farm, which includes about 300 hectares of arable land and about 30 hectares of vineyards.
Siamo ad Ostra Vetere, con le vigne del Verdicchio fra Montecarotto e Serra de’ Conti, in piena Doc del Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi. The Verdicchio takes the lead but there are also Montepulciano and Sangiovese.
Today I am going to talk mainly about the Verdicchios, so I am leaving out the two reds, which began as comprimarios, from completing the range, and have grown to be more than worthy of independent life.

The first vintage produced was 1983, and it was the reserve, the first Villa Bucci.
L’inizio di un glorioso cammino che oggi ho ripercorso dalla 1988.
Se avrete pazienza e voglia di leggere le note delle singole annate, capirete quanto questo vino abbia segnato il territorio, non solo quello locale o regionale.
Fra le tante bottiglie stappate nessuna ha mostrato sentori di tappo o altri difetti, mentre in due il tappo non aveva tenuto a dovere ed il vino era pesantemente ossidato.

I want to conclude by thanking Ampelio and the entire winery for their enormous availability; sharing and commenting with him on so many bottles was a truly unique and beautifully formative experience.
I will not forget it.

All wines are 100% Verdicchio from old vines and mature about 18 months in large barrels.