Here beginneth a whole week devoted to one Italian wine.
Verdicchio. You've heard the name before? No, not ringing any bells? How about this: green amphora-shaped bottle with a scroll tied around the neck? Bingo! This is the spritzy, gluggable and cheaply priced white that has met with such huge commercial success in the international markets since the 1970s. Few, however, know that there is a much more serious side to Verdicchio than this conveyor-belt version would have it. Among Italy's cognoscenti, the white grape's superiority is based on its fabled capacity to age, something that is only slowly seeping...