Le Marche (The Marches) is located on the Adriatic coast toward the top of the Italian peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Ancona. In the wine world, Marche is best known for white wines made from Verdicchio and perhaps for Montepulciano-based red wines like Rosso Cònero and Rosso Piceno. It has 5 DOCGs, 15 DOCs (see map on this page), and a single IGP. In 2022, Marche apparently shattered previous records with a production volume of 1.4 million hectoliters (15.4 million cases) of wine from its 15,600 ha (38,600 acres) of vineyards. The region’s primary grape varieties are Sangiovese (22%), Montepulciano (20%), and Verdicchio (14%), although overall white wine exceeds red wine in volume.
