2023 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore from Andrea Felici
The wine name is quite a mouthful but a historic one, from the Marche region on the East coast of Italy. It’s made from the Verdicchio grape and this was a really good one.
We opened the wine during a family dinner at my sister Tracy’s place earlier this week. Harper had been helping her in the garden, and after work, we joined them for dinner. Tray cooked a Greek-style butterflied chicken and made a beautiful Spanakopita (spinach and feta pie) to accompany it.
When we tasted the Spanakopita with the Verdicchio it was one of those rare moments when the wine makes the food taste even better and vice versa…a great match.
This wine is bright, fresh and influenced by its coastal origins with a distinct saline note on the finish. It’s sealed with a screw cap—kudos to the producer—which helps preserve its vibrancy and liveliness. The crisp acidity cut perfectly through the richness and saltiness of the feta in the Spanakopita.
Interestingly, we noticed the wine seemed more alive and tasted better when served well-chilled, straight from the fridge. The last bit of wine from the glass that had come to room temperature sitting on the table was a little supressed compared to a fresh one poured from the fridge. That’s not uncommon with light bodied whites, so we recommend serving this well chilled.
Purchased at $29 a bottle from d’Or to Door, this wine represents excellent value and is definitely one we’ll be buying again. Here’s the recipe below:
Spanakopita Recipe for Rae
This is a combination of a couple of recipes I found online, with my own twist.
Ingredients:
600g fresh spinach (2 large bags of baby spinach)
1 onion, diced (or ½ an onion and 1 leek)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 – 2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh dill, finely chopped
2 tbs fresh continental parsley, finely chopped
250g Greek feta cheese (the hard, crumbly kind)
2 eggs
½ tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp lemon zest
½ tbsp lemon juice
Cracked pepper
Pinch of salt
1 packet fresh filo pastry (I use Antoniou brand located in the fridge section in the supermarket, where you find fresh pasta)
120g butter, melted
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan forced).
Remove filo pastry from the fridge and leave in box to come up to room temperature.
Heat olive oil on moderate heat in a frying pan. Add onion, garlic (and leek if using). Cook for two minutes until onion is translucent, then add spinach. Cook, stirring until spinach is wilted.
Drain spinach mix in a colander lined with a clean tea towel and allow it to cool.
In a bowl, combine eggs, crumbled feta cheese, nutmeg, cumin, lemon zest & juice, dill, parsley and pepper/salt.
Squeeze the drained spinach mix to remove remaining liquid, then combine with egg and cheese bowl and mix all ingredients together with a spoon.
Line a rectangular baking tray with baking paper.
Warm the butter in a saucepan or bowl until just melted.
Open the packet of filo pastry and lay the pastry open into a rectangle.
Trim 1 – 2 cm off the edges of the pastry with a knife or scissors.
Lay one sheet of filo on the base of the lined baking tray and brush with melted butter, taking care to paint the butter right out to the pastry edges.
Repeat with 7 more sheets.
Spread the spinach mix on the filo pastry leave a 2 cm gap between the spinach mix and the pastry edge on all sides.
Cover the spinach mix with a sheet of filo, pressing the outer edges down on the filo layers below and brush with butter.
Repeat with 7 more sheets*.
Roll or pinch the edges of the pastry to seal the spinach mixture inside the filo, creating a ‘pie’.
Brush the top with butter and sprinkle with cracked pepper.
Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, until golden.
Rest for 5 minutes, slice and serve.
*It seems like a lot of butter but in my experience if you don’t do it, the pastry will be soggy on the bottom and so flaky on top it shatters when you cut it.
Tracy Noon.