Verdicchio, a dry white wine from the central Italian region of Marche, is one of the country’s longest lived whites. It has been called Italy’s best white wine by numerous writers, and it is also one of the finest values of any white anywhere in the world. Yet, you truly don’t see many offerings of Verdicchio on retail shelves or wine lists in America or many countries.

I'll look at the reasons why this is so later, but first, let’s examine the particulars of this truly original wine. Produced from the eponymous variety, Verdicchio is made in two zones in Marche. The best known of the two is Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, about 25 miles from the Adriatic Sea, on Italy’s east coast, while the other territory is Verdicchio di Matelica, located much farther inland, south and east of Jesi.