Umani Ronchi CaSal di Serra Verdicchio 2022

Most know the Bisci Verdicchio with its ties to The French Laundry and Eleven Madison Park. And while there’s absolutely no doubt that it is a superstar wine of Marche, it actually hasn’t garnered the same kind of huge press and big scores that Umani Ronchi has gained over the past few years. As Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate emphatically declared last year, “you don’t get better value than this.”

That must be true because this year, I think the 2022 Umani Ronchi CaSal di Serra Verdicchio is as good as it gets. It’s certainly the highest rated Italian white I’ve seen so far in 2024. A 91 from Decanter and a 93-point (Editors’ Choice) from Wine Enthusiast for a wine that checks in under $25/bottle is certainly not the norm. But this is so deserving, and the best version Umani Ronchi has ever made.

There’s a good reason for that too.

This past year, Umani Ronchi decided to change their flagship ‘Casal di Serra’ Verdicchio from a single-vineyard bottling into a ‘vineyard selection’ featuring the best fruit from a few great vineyards. This was a pivotal move. The 2022 Verdicchio fruit was amazing from all three vineyard sites they pulled. And deciding to make a wine that featured only the best blocks from the three? That created lightning in a bottle…literally!

The new release from Umani Ronchi, the 2022 CaSal di Serra Verdicchio, is in a league of its own. This one hits with energetic, clean notes of stone fruit, jasmine, lemon drops, and citrus fruit with a racy mineral streak.