Le Terrazze

“These serious, ambitious Italian reds… represent breakthrough efforts for the Marche region.” – Robert Parker

“In the early 2000s, Antonio and Georgina Terni of the historic Fattoria Le Terrazze put the Conero region on international wine maps.”–Eric Guido, Vinous

Fattoria Le Terrazze is located on slopes overlooking the Adriatic sea, with vineyards situated at 500 meters altitude on Monte Conero; this unusually hilly and rocky part of the Adriatic coastline has hosted vineyards for nearly 3000 years. The Terni family has owned the estate since 1882, and today Fedrico Curtaz is consultant enologist. The vineyards are planted almost entirely to Montepulciano, with small amounts of Merlot, Syrah, and Chardonnay. These wines are rich, exciting examples of the great potential of this lesser known area – the “other coast” of the Marche still abounds in values – and in wines with equal appeal to its Tuscan neighbors.

Le Terrazze is best known for its Conero Riserva “Sassi Neri”, a special-selection oak-aged 100% Montepulciano, and for the Rosso IGT “Chaos”. A physicist in his previous incarnation, winemaker Antonio Terni named the limited-production “Chaos” after the chaos theory, which dictates that a particular result cannot always be explained by the interaction of its components. In this case, the combination of Montepulciano, Syrah and Merlot, matured in cask, results in an extraordinary dark purple wine with an opulent bouquet. Le Terrazze’s “Rosso Conero” is the cornerstone of the estate – a delicious Montepulciano aged in large casks, emphasizing fruit and freshness.

Vineyard Practices: Le Terrazze is a practicing organic producer. They use integrated insect and disease control in the vineyards. Cover crops between the rows of vines help fertilize and prevent erosion and the soil is never tilled. Only organic fertilizers are used when necessary, but these instances are rare – not fertilizing helps keep the production low. Low doses of SO2 are used in the wines to help preserve them during shipping and in the marketplace.