The territory stems from a truly ancient vineyard vocation, and was witnessed by discovering fossil grapevines in the “Villa Clara” tomb from the Picena era, turning Matelica into the cradle in which the Verdicchio di Matelica DOC was born.

Matelica is situated in the Marches region, approximately 70 km from the coast, and in the centre of the largest valley in the Marches located to the north and south, and which is surrounded by mountains. The synclinal town of Camerino in this Marches valley is truly specific and unique as it prevents any mitigating marine influences from emerging by creating a continental Mediterranean microclimate which is characterised by greater thermal excursions from one day to the next, and from summer to winter.

The Umbro-Marches Archipelago ridge surrounds this valley, where Monte San Vicino is its parent peak at 1,480 m above sea level. The average altitude of Matelica is 354 m above sea level, although some of our vineyards are between 400 and 450 m above sea level.
The soil is clay and limestone, which is ideal for adding finesse and flavour/olfactory to the wines.
The secular cultivation tradition of the Verdicchio grape variety in its original native clone gives this rare wine grape variety scope for quantity and high quality.

History of Matelica and viticulture

The territory stems from a truly ancient vineyard vocation, and was witnessed by discovering fossil grapevines in the “Villa Clara” tomb from the Picena era, turning Matelica into the cradle in which the Verdicchio di Matelica DOC was born.Viticulture in Matelica has ancient roots which date back to the Picene era.

The first historical reference between Verdicchio and Matelica dates back to 1579, where it was referred to as a notarial act compiled by Matelica native Giovanni Governali, and which defines the most prominent value of the terrain where “Verdicchio” vineyards can be found.

The development, ampelography and improvement of viticultural and oenological knowledge gained from the end of the nineteenth century through to beyond the second world war has seen Verdicchio become one of the major white grape varieties in the Marches region.

A quality growing process which has led Matelica’s Verdicchio to gain a significant prize: it is the first white wine from the Marches region to be awarded the DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin – Verdicchio di Matelica DOC in 1967) and to subsequently be awarded the DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin – Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva DOCG in 2011).

The PROVIMA wine cellar has gained in-depth knowledge of both the terrain and the grapevine over time by identifying the best wine-growing regions in order to maximise the expression of this historic vine.

Ten years on, the collaboration between agronomists and oenologists has identified the best vineyards belonging to winegrowers capable of producing extremely rich and complex wines.

The result of this selection is the LAMELIA branded wine, in which Verdicchio retains a MODERN and ELEGANT style.