Strada del Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi One day and 89 kilometres from the Senigallia seafront to the last of the Verdicchio castles, on the sequence the Marche wine institute publishes: Senigallia, Jesi, Montecarotto, Cupramontana, Staffolo, Castelbellino.

What to taste here

• Verdicchio dei Castelli di JesiDOC The Classico, from the historic hills west of the city
• The Riserva in the enotecas Jesi lost its regional enoteca to Offida; the wine bars pour the DOCG instead

Down the A14 and in on the SP 76 of the Val d'Esino. Jesi keeps its 15th-century walls almost intact, Lorenzo Lotto's paintings in Palazzo Pianetti, and the Teatro Pergolesi. Its regional enoteca has closed; the title stays with Offida. Three restricted zones, Corso Matteotti, Pergolesi and San Pietro, run 24 hours with cameras at Via Andrea da Jesi, Porta Bersaglieri and Corso Matteotti, and the partial pedestrian island bans cars from 9.30 to 2 and 4 to 10, until midnight from 1 June to 15 September. Osteria Forno Ercole on Piazza Nova opens for dinner Tuesday to Saturday and Sunday lunch. The Pergolesi Spontini Festival runs from 18 July to 21 September 2026.

Where to eat

Chef Marco Filipponi's seasonal Marche plates

Osteria Forno Ercole. Piazza Nova 8; dinner Tuesday to Saturday 8 to 11, Sunday lunch 12.30 to 3, closed Monday; call 0731 257071

Find it on the map Its own site

What to taste here

• Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio RiservaDOCG Villa Bucci Riserva, 100 percent Verdicchio from these slopes, the estate founded here in 1983
• Verdicchio dei Castelli di JesiDOC Casalfarneto's Fontevecchia Classico Superiore from the next village

The SP 76 out of Jesi, then the SP 11, the provincial road named for the castles, climbs to Montecarotto. The walls were designed in 1509 by Albertino di Giacomo of Cremona; the Teatro Comunale opened on 8 September 1877 with Donizetti and reopened in 2001. Ampelio Bucci, born here, founded Villa Bucci in 1983 on these slopes; the cellar and tasting room are at Via Cona 30 in Ostra Vetere, 15 kilometres north, by private appointment in our records. Moncaro, the cooperative, is here too. Casalfarneto, 35 hectares since 1995 at Via Farneto 12 in Serra de' Conti, is the next village. No restaurant in the village has a working site of its own.

Where to taste

Wines to Try

A few wines from the estates above.

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Sartarelli

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Tralivio Classico Superiore Sartarelli

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What to taste here

• Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio RiservaDOCG Colonnara's Tufico: the DOCG since 2010, 18 months' ageing, six of them in bottle
• Ubaldo Rosi Colonnara's metodo classico Verdicchio, on the world's best-sparkling lists
• The label museum Italy's largest wine-label collection, in the caves under Corso Leopardi

The SP 36 and SP 11 across the ridges. Colonnara at Via Mandriole 2 gathers more than a hundred growers after sixty years and books its cellar visits at visit.colonnara.it; its Ubaldo Rosi is a metodo classico Verdicchio and Tufico the Riserva. The MIG at Corso Leopardi 59 reopened in 2016 with the International Wine Label Museum, Italy's largest label collection, open in summer Monday to Saturday 10.30 to 12.30 and 4.30 to 7.30, Sunday afternoons. The 89th Sagra dell'Uva, held since 1928, runs 1 to 4 October 2026. The Eremo dei Frati Bianchi sits in a gorge below the village. Orietta on Piazza IV Novembre books online.

Where to eat

The day's menu on the main square

Orietta. Piazza IV Novembre 1; book online on the site or call 0731 780119

Find it on the map Its own site

What to taste here

• Verdicchio dei Castelli di JesiDOC La Staffa, the village's estate, from vines below the walls
• The old hospital enoteca The Museo dell'Arte del Vino pours in a restored 15th-century building

Nine kilometres on the SP 11. Staffolo keeps stretches of wall with towers, and the former hospital, a restored 15th-century building, holds the Museo dell'Arte del Vino with an enoteca attached. La Staffa is the village's best-known estate on our shelves. Ristorante Oasi at Via Marco Biagi 1 has fed the village since 1987, makes its own fresh pasta since 2000, and opens Tuesday to Friday 12 to 10, weekends 12.30 to 10.30, closed Monday.

Where to eat

Fresh pasta from the house lab, then meat or fish

Ristorante Oasi. Via Marco Biagi 1, a family table since 1987; Tuesday to Friday 12 to 10, weekends 12.30 to 10.30, closed Monday; call 0731 779303

Find it on the map Its own site

What to taste here

• Verdicchio dei Castelli di JesiDOC Pievalta's biodynamic Classico from 30 hectares at Maiolati, shop on weekday hours
• Fazi Battaglia Titulus The amphora bottle from 130 hectares of Classico at Castelplanio, founded 1949
• Sartarelli Balciana The late-picked Verdicchio from Poggio San Marcello, in the shop Monday to Saturday

The SP 35 and back onto the SP 11. Castelbellino Alto is the old village, rebuilt in the 14th century by Ghibelline exiles, with a view up the Esino valley to Monte San Vicino. Pievalta at Via Monteschiavo 18 in Maiolati Spontini, founded 2002 by the Barone Pizzini family, farms 30.4 hectares biodynamically and sells from its shop Monday to Friday 8.30 to 12.30 and 2 to 5.30. Fazi Battaglia at Via Roma 117 in Castelplanio, founded 1949, has 130 hectares of Classico and the amphora bottle of Titulus. Sartarelli at Poggio San Marcello sells Balciana from its shop on weekday hours. Ancona airport is 29 kilometres down the SS 76; the Montecarotto-Castelbellino station is on the Rome to Ancona line. No table here has its own site.