Region: Marche, Italy

Varietal: 70% Montepulciano, 30% Sangiovese

Tasting notes: Peppery and floral, the 2020 Rosso Farnio wafts up with wild herbs, dusty roses, violets and tart cherries. It's soft, generous and enveloping, yet with a bump of zesty acidity and tart wild berry fruits that keep the expression energetic and fun. This leaves a subtle coating of fine tannins that frames the experience well, along with hints of licorice and currants. The Farnio is an easy-drinking and nicely balanced blend of 70% Montepulciano and 30% Sangiovese that punches well above its price point.

Producer: The city of Loreto in Marche is the site of the Basilica della Santa Casa, one of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites during the Middle Ages and still among the most visited pilgrimage churches today.The pilgrims who came to Loreto were some of the world’s first mass tourists, and like the tourists of today, they needed places to stay and to eat. Inns and taverns sprang up around the pilgrimage sites to serve the needs of the visitors. In Loreto, along the main road entering the town from the north, one such inn was owned by Antonio Garofoli in the mid-19th century. In 1871, Garofoli began making wine to quench the pilgrims’ temporal thirst, beginning a long family tradition. Thirty years later, his son Gioacchino founded a full-scale winery operation. The winery expanded commercially after World War II as Casa Vinicola Gioacchino Garofoli with national and European distribution beginning in 1950. The winery is now run by the fourth and fifth generations—brothers Carlo and Gianfranco Garofoli and their three children Gianluca, Caterina, and Beatrice.

Vineyard and Winemaking: Garofoli today has four family-owned vineyards totaling 128 acres: at the family’s base in Castelfidardo outside Loreto, in the Castelli di Jesi growing area for Verdicchio in Montecarotto, in Paterno in the Rosso Cònero denomination, and the Piancarda vineyard within the Mount Cònero Regional Nature Park. The family also buys grapes from growers who have sold their entire output to Garofoli for many years. There are two production facilities, at Castelfidardo and Montecarotto.