Centanni Organic wines that follow family traditions

Centanni farm lies 250m above the sea on rolling hills a stones throw from the Adriatic Coast of Le Marche.

The Azienda Agricola Biologica Centanni is owned and run by Giacomo Centanni and his family and the winery produces approximately 110,000 bottles of wine/year using only grapes grown on Centanni’s 32 hectares of hillside organic vineyards.

The wines closely follow the expert winemaking tradition that has evolved in the family over the decades.

They are great hosts and whether you are ordering table wines for your holidays or want to sample and buy wines for export, they will sit you down and let you sample their sumptuous offerings

The vines deliver pure unadulterated flavours that over the years have allowed the family to optimise the taste and produce extremely well-structured wines. Centanni’s products include red (Montepulciano and Rosso Piceno DOC), white (Passerina DOCG, Pecorino DOCG, Falerio DOC and Prosecco)and rosé wines.

Centanni are also the the first winery in Le Marche to use the “tappo in vetro”, which is a glass stopper that is an incredible replacement for the traditional cork. You no longer need a corkscrew and can easily reseal the bottle. We find them very practical and they look good too.

The medieval town of Montefiore D’Aso

Centanni is located in a beautiful area of Marche an area rich in history and culture that was home to the ancient Piceni tribe who embraced the Mediterranean climate and fertile soils at least 900 bc. Nowadays, the Picchio (woodpecker) emblem of the Piceni people has been adopted by both the Marche Region and Ascoli Football Club.

The Centanni farm is in Montefiore dell’Aso, a superbly preserved medieval town and one of the “most beautiful villages in Italy”. The town’s name means the worship of Flora, the goddess of the countryside who was worshipped by the local population. It has a unique medieval layout defined by its protective walls and still preserves architectural traces of an important past.

Importing Centanni wines

The cantina are most accommodating and will let you visit the Cantina and sample their fantastic wines. They have sfuso (draft) versions of the wines which are incredible value at €1.50 a litre.

But, sample the bottles and you will want to bring some of this superb organic vino back home. If you live in mainland Europe then this isn’t a problem as long as you bring a big truck with you on holiday.

Great value shipping rates & discounts for bulk orders

If you come from the UK then you can import wine for personal consumption, however, we have visited many cantinas and found that shipping rates have escalated to around €2.50 a bottle at many of them.

Not at Centanni, they have shippers who cost only €100 a delivery to the UK – Irrespective of the quantity of bottles being ordered. Order enough and you can negotiate a discount a 10-20% discount. Factor in exchange rates of €1.40 to the pound and 100 bottles of Rosso di Forca that would usually cost about £9 or more in the UK can be had for about £4.35 each

 Rosso di Forca (50% Sangiovese / 50% Montepulciano)

Having sampled most of the wines over a good many months, the Red Fork or Rosso di Forca is our favourite.

These 25 year old vines are planted 4000 per hectare on gravelly soil and yield 4.0 kg of grapes per plant or 12000 litres per hectare.

Centanni harvest their Sangiovese in mid-September and the Montepulciano is harvested later from mid-October.The grapes are de-stemmed, lightly pressed and transferred to the small fermenters where fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature.

The maceration lasts for about 20 days at a temperature of 20C and the wine from the two grapes is kept apart. Both are transferred to steel containers for 6 months and The Montepluciano grapes are aged separately in oak barriques for three months before being combined with the Sangiovese grapes.The wine is then bottled and left to rest for at least 3 months in bottle. Usual cost of direct purchases €6

This wine is a ruby red colour and soft with subtle hints of berries, strawberry and vanilla TEMPERATURE 18/20 ° C SERVING red meat, aged cheese.

Offida Pecorino DOCG

The Pecorino DOCG is a medal winner at Vinitaly. The Pecorino grapes are harvested by hand, they are soft pressed followed by an immediate drop in temperature via carbon dioxide to preserve the integrity of the fruit and flavours. The Mosto or must is decanted and fermeted at low temperature.

The wine is straw yellow in colour, and is subtle fruity but with good body bouquet and an elegant, long finish. Usual cost of direct purchases €8