What wind bloweth ill or well over the vineyards of The Marches?Everyone knows that these are the terrains of choice for Whites, with Verdicchio in the lead. It is a vast terrain: from the wide horizons to the sea of the various Castelli around Jesi to the districts of Matelica, a closed-in valley uninfluenced by the maritime zephyrs. On offer is a variegated spread of products, from wines for poplar consumption that nonetheless maintain reliable standards to the rare and off-beat collectoreuros crus such as Gaiospino by Lucio Canestrari (rather than Gli Eremi by Corrado Dottori, or the Vigna delle Oche by Natalino Crognaletti); from the immediate freshness of the yearlings (remember all the best cellars, such as Fazi, Monte Schiavo and Terre Cortesi Moncaro, have these in selections of super-refined versions, such as Le Giuncare, Vigna Novali) to the fascinating evolution in the bottle of grand and ageing Verdicchios like the Podium by Carlo Garofoli, La Riserva by Ampelio Bucci, Mirum by Aldo Cifola. Here dwell and labour the warriors, as it were, in the cause of the culture of white wines that can age in the bottle, even though this virtue is still slow to catch on in Italy. Good news comes from the Piceno area, where a group of local producers are making local territorial characteristics highly and precisely visible and appreciable. There, near Piceno still more than in the districts of Monte Conero, the vinification of Reds seems particularly successful. Montepulciano is still the dominant grape, placed at the centre of attention of the new stylistic and productive ideologies championed by Marco Casolanetti of the Oasi degli Angeli. The Marches more than other Regions can boast of an abundance of auchthonous grapes in search of a wine. Pecorino grapes have found good homes on vineyards for Whites, as have Vernaccia Nera grapes on those for Reds. Leteuros hope the trend will continue and not fizzle out as a whim of the moment.