2021 Bisci Verdicchio di Matelica DOC Marche Italy 750 ml

Bisci Verdicchio is one of our favorite annual traditions. Like seeing tomatoes at the farmers’ market, the arrival of this crisp Italian white-wine star heralds delicious al fresco drinking.

There’s a reason Bisci’s on the lists at MICHELIN-starred restaurants like The French Laundry, Del Posto, and Eleven Madison Park, and it’s the same reason Wine Advocate declared, “Verdicchio is one of the joys of Italian oenology that rarely gets the respect it deserves, and few producers do it better than Bisci.”

It’s hard to find a more elegant Italian Verdicchio than Bisci’s 2021. Showing subtle complexity and beautiful energy, balancing crispness and tension with discreet fruit, it’s a fantastic vintage of a bottle that’s been thrilling Wine Access members for a decade.

The tiny appellation of Verdicchio di Matelica is a sight to behold: emerald-green hills draped in sunlight, hidden by limestone-laced mountains that block sea breezes. While Verdicchio from neighboring Castelli di Jesi is born of sunny coasts and maritime influence, the higher-altitude Matelica zone produces wines of greater brightness and minerality—and Bisci wines exemplify the unique character of the region’s Verdicchio.

Beginning in the early 1990s, as producers modernized their cellars and growers raised the quality bar, Verdicchio became a sensation. In the hands of Giuseppe Bisci and his brilliant agronomist-enologist Aroldo Bellelli, the winery rose to the top. Antonio Galloni has said that Bisci “redefines the heights this indigenous variety is capable of reaching.”

To make it all click, do as we do: Grab a few Maine Lobsters or a few dozen shrimp, then crack open a cool bottle of the Bisci Verdicchio di Matelica. Life doesn’t get much better.