Reaching the beautiful village of Serrapetrona in the province of Macerata you will be greeted by the words “Vernaccia Serrapetrona Vernaccia” above the loggias of a wine house, which leads you into the world of the famous vine variety of the Vernaccia Nera. The current process for Vernaccia , called “tripla rifermentazione” (triple refermentation), traces back to an old agricultural tradition and consists of three different phases: the “vinificazione” (wine-making) of 60% of the harvested grapes and the drying of the remaining part until the following January, when it is wine-made and added to the wine already produced, starting a second slow refermentation; at that point it continues with the “spumantizzazione” (sparkling wine making) in closed tank until the following June, when it is finally placed on the market.
You cannot miss two Sunday events in Serrapetrona: “Appassimenti aperti” , giving wine lovers the chance to visit several wine cellars with grapes hanging from the ceiling, and the “merenda domenicale” (the Sunday afternoon snack), a real gourmet snack in which the Vernaccia in its sweet version and a selection of cold cuts are the main ingredients.
All you need is a little bit of sparkling wine, a few slices of Ciauscolo and some "alive" all'Ascolana (olives from Ascoli) to forget the hard times we are living and let time fly. At 7 pm it's time to play briscola (an Italian card game) and suddenly it's 10 pm: whoops it's time to come back home, get a good night's sleep and start again another work week.
Francesco Cerolini
