Its reputation may be founded on it classic reds, but Italy is fast gaining ground for appetising dry whites is and I’m not talking pinot grigio. Halfway between the devilishly good wines of Italy’s North and those from the deep blue Mediterranean sea, Le Marche, or what we English call The Marches, is in the forefront of turning rosso into bianco. The fact that it’s in the shadow of neighbouring Tuscany and Umbria makes it all the more intriguing a destination. Le Marche recalls Tuscany with its colourful patchwork of grain, sunflower and olive groves, its wooded hills and valleys bisected by rivers that run from the Apennine backbone to the Adriatic. Yet despite its seafood restaurants and mile upon mile of beach, its pretty inland cities remain mercifully unspoilt. One such city, the impressive walled city of Jesi (yay-zee), is home to one of Italy’s best white wines, verdicchio.

Not forgetting Rosso Conero, the much-improved local red, Le Marche is basically about verdicchio, the versatile white grape variety grown inland of Ancona around Jesi and Matelica. Verdicchio is not just a high quality grape when it’s handled well, but it’s also immensely versatile. It’s well-known as an everyday thirstquencher, like Moncaro’s crisp, lemony 2008 Verdicchio, £4.99, Waitrose or Monte Schiavo’s 2008 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, £6.99, buy two = £5.99, Majestic. Yet it’s capable of producing more stylish dry whites at classico and riserva levels that go wonderfully well with seafood, and then again richer, fuller-bodied and more intensely flavoured wines that have something of the white burgundy or vouvray about them. This is Italy, so there’s even a luscious sweet verdicchio made from dried grapes.

Just a tenth of the size of Jesi, Matelica’s 300 hectares of clay-soil vineyards in the west close to the Apennines are higher and more mineral than Jesi, and with more of a continental than maritime climate, Matelica tends to produce wines that are more floral, elegant and mineral. Typical of the style is the full-bodied and delicate 2007 La Monacesca Verdicchio di Matelica, £9.99, Waitrose, with its lees-derived nuttiness and honeyed glints and fresh, yet opulent, nutty 2008 Le Vaglie Verdiccio, £9.99, Booths. In similar vein, Belisario’s 2008 Verdicchio di Matelica 'Vigneti del Cerro', around £10.99, Fortnum & Mason, Shills of Station Street, Cumbria (01900 826427), Free Run Juice, Newquay (O1872 510037), is a delightfully complex style energised by a fine isotonic freshness, while the 2006 Mirum, Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva, £19.50, Berry Bros. (0800 2802440) is a wonderfully intense and classically minerally dry white.

Back in verdicchio’s bigger heartland of Jesi Classico are to be found deliciously Spring-like dry whites such as the stonefruit and apple-laden, textured and refreshingly juicy 2008 Ca’Ruptae Verdicchio Classico Superiore, £8.99, Sainsbury’s, and Pievalta’s expressively vibrant, organic 2008 Verdicchio Classico Superiore £8.99, Vintage Roots (0800 980 4992). Another favourite is the 2008 Verdicchio Classico Superiore, Casal di Serra, Umani Ronchi, around £10.95 - £13.50, slurp.co.uk, Carluccio shops, SWIG (0800272272), Christopher Piper, Devon (01404 814139) Villeneuve Wines, Scotland (01721 722500), a mouthwateringly citrus-fresh, nutty dry white with a lovely textured richness of flavour. While for the richer style, the powerfully built 2006 Plenio Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva, 14.05- £16.50, slurp.co.uk, agwines.com, Wine Unearthed (01477 537072) is a highly distintive, complex style halfway between a dry vouvray and a white burgundy. Why drink pinot grigio when you can get so much more from verdicchio? Why indeed. www.anthonyrosewine.com

Something For the Weekend 10 April 2010

Under a Fiver

2009 Sainsburys Taste the Difference Chenin Blanc

From chenin king Ken Forrester a Cape dry white moreishly juicy pineapple peachy fruit quality and subtle vanilla note, enlivened by a refreshing spritz. Good at the list price, great with the discount. £4.66, normally £6.99, Sainsbury’s, until Tuesday.

Under a Tenner

2008 La Grange St.Martin Réserve Côtes du Rhône

Not an over a tenner wine, but the Perrin brothers’ ripe, blackberryish southern Rhône blend with its spice and pepper undertones and refreshingly savoury acidity punches above its deal price. £5.99, down from £11.98. The Co-operative.

Splash Out

2006 Cedro do Noval, Douro

Vibrant and intense, a one-third portion of the syrah grape gives this otherwise classic Douro blend an aroamtic peppery uplift that combines beautifully with its vibrant, succulently spiced black cherry fruitiness. £14.99, or buy 2 = £11.99, Majestic.