The estate is owned by the Leopardi Dittajuti family and has been handed down from father to son for many generations. Count Piervittorio Leopardi Dittajuti and his wife Lidia are the owners and coordinators of the entire company.
The earliest documented history of the Leopardi family in the Marche region goes back to the 5th century with the appointment from the Vatican of Leopardo Leopardi to take the position of Bishop of the Roman town Auximum (today Osimo). He established the Christian church in Osimo, but such appointment, made by Pope Innocent I, was not to last long as pagans killed Bishop Leopardi in 405 AD. Bishop Leopardi was a martyr and was later made a saint.
The Winery is located in Le Marche region, in the Conero Riviera and Natural Park, one of the most evocative areas on Adriatic Sea, surrounded by both hills and sea.
In this area the soil is rich in limestone and marl, and with its special geological and climatic features a high quality of grape. The climate is typically Mediterranean, under the influence of the sea and frequent breezes. The temperature has a large leap between the day and the night. The vineyards: the engine of our winery! are estate owned and extend for about 45 hectares (111 Acres). Yields are extremely low, so to favour quality.
The two main vineyards are planted south from mount Conero: one on the Svarchi farm, in the Numana municipality, and one on the Coppo farm, in the Sirolo municipality. Since 2005 the estate has managed a vineyard in the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC appellation.
An attentive viticulture, combined with the characteristics of the soils, a grape-growing favourable climate and adequately exposed vineyards allow high quality crops with constant quality standards. The resulting wines stand out with typicality, elegance and aromatic intensity. The harvest: is attentively executed by carefully selecting the grapes in the vineyards. The selected grapes are destemed and pressed softly. In the resulting must fermentation is induced in temperature controlled stain- less steel vats by inoculating selected yeasts, so to preserve the varieties aromas and typicality
The cellar: has been renovated completely in the last years and can be considered an example of modern oenological technology. Thanks to the employed equipments and a perfectly sterile environment, we obtain long la- sting and naturally healthy wines. Since 2018, we are in organic convertion. Tradition joins modernity and Hi- Tec. Conte Leopardi’s cellar is covered in solar panels and uses only eco-friendly machineries, supporting the vineyard’s health and growth.
The products: today the estate produces about 250,000 bottles. The flagship is constituted by the Rosso Cònero Doc, obtained from native clones of Montepulciano grapes. This wine is produced in different versions, differing in harvest periods and fining procedures. FRUCTUS is the youngest and most vinous one, undergoing 6 month stainless steel vat fining and 2 month barrique ageing. VILLA MARINA represents the more traditional stile of the estate.
The grapes are picked tes most important one. It stands out thanks to its complexity and elegance. It is prodiced only in particularly good vintages from late harvested grapes. After 22-24 months of barrique ageing, it undergoes a full year of bottle fining before being released for sale. In pro- per cellar conditions, it can be aged for many years.
The estate’s white wines are obtained from separately vinified Sauvignon vineyard was planted in 1970 and therefore adapted itself, particularly well to the pedoclimatic situation of Cònero. Two Marche IGT Sauvignon wines are bottled from this vineyard: BIANCO del COPPO, nicely balanced in its fruit and at a very ripe stage and the wine unvarietals flavours, and CALCARE, the dergoes 12 month barrique ageing. On another front, CASIRANO Rosso Conero Doc is aged in new french barriques for about 12 months.
Once bottled, it is aged in a controlled temperature cellar for 10 months before release. Its highlights are a solid structure and international taste. PIGMENTO is Conero DOCG Riserva and the estagrapes of which come from a specific area of the Coppo vineyard, where the soil has a particularly calcareous concentration.
This wine is produced in limited quantities and its highlights are its complexity and its intense flavours.