Located in Osimo, in the province of Ancona, is the Winery of the Year for the Gambero Rosso Vini d'Italia 2024 guide. Who knows if in 1957 Gino Umani Ronchi, setting up a small farm in Cupramontana, had imagined his name written on millions of bottles of excellent wine enjoyed all over the world. Yet destiny had planned for him exactly this, crossing his path with that of Roberto Bianchi and his son-in-law Massimo Bernetti.
The Umani Ronchi made in Marche wine
After entering as partners, both took over the company in 1968 and changed its features. Within a few years, Umani Ronchi had two production spots that are still active today: the one based in Castelbellino in Castelli di lesi and the Rosso Conero site in the Osimo winery. Massimo's fundamental intuition was to organise a sales network for his “made in Marche” wines that could take root in the best global markets. The entry into the company of his son Michele, the current managing director, strengthened the concept without ever refusing his active role in the production segment: at the disposal of the production team, headed by agronomist Luigi Piersanti and oenologists Giacomo Mattioli and Beppe Caviola - the latter acting as consultant - today there are no less than 240 hectares of vineyards, among which about thirty were purchased in Abruzzo in 2001.
Umani Ronchi, the strength of distinction
But the overall vitality of the Umani Ronchi project does not stop at the wine aspects. It embraces architecture thanks to the striking barrel cellar located next to the renovated and wider Osimo facility and the cosy wine shop. It expands to hospitality thanks to the Grand Hotel Palace and the wine bar WineNot? housed in a historic palace in the ancient heart of Ancona’s port and Villa Bianchi’s country house, a farmhouse surrounded by verdicchio vineyards. It’s open for hospitality thanks to an articulate series of visit and tasting packages that can also be booked through the website. Yes, the website is another strong point: visit it to find detailed information on the many crus that make up a company range that is so coordinated, so compact in quality and yet so diverse that this year's tasting produced a certain embarrassment when choosing the wine to be awarded the Tre Bicchieri 2024.
Among the complexity of the Plenio Riserva '21, the fruity delight of the Vecchie Vigne '21, the two intense and layered Conero Riserva Campo San Giorgio '19 and Cumaro '19, the Bordeaux-like elegance of the Pelago '19 and the refined Maximo '21 from botrytised Sauvignon grapes, the latest wine came out on top: Historical '18, on the market a few months ago, is a meticulous and fascinating state of the art on the evolution skill of Verdicchio. This abundance, however, removed all doubt when the name for the Azienda dell'Anno 2024 was decided. And we are sure that old Gino would have never imagined this.
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