Lacrima di Morro d’Alba

The Marche is home to Lacrima di Morro d’Alba – one of Italy’s most unusual wines. We sat down with Matteo Acmè – Sales Manager at Filodivino – to find out more about this unusual grape and the wines it produces

In the 1980s, it looked like Lacrima – and its wines – would soon disappear. There were only seven hectares of the grape in production – but, thanks to a handful of pioneering producers, this viticultural jewel was saved from extinction.

Indigenous to the area around Morro d’Alba in the Marche, this distinctive red grape has a long history – arriving in the region long before the more famous Verdicchio. Frederick I Barbarossa is said to have acquired a taste for Lacrima wines while laying siege to Ancona in 1167. The grape was once planted beyond the borders of the Marche, in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Puglia, but it fell from favour. Its name means “teardrop” – hinting at the challenges of farming the grape. Lacrima has very thin skins, easily pierced or broken, tending to weep its precious juice, which in turn means the variety is susceptible to disease.

“It’s a very difficult beast,” Matteo Acmè of Filodivino tells me, explaining how it also flowers early and ripens late, at risk of both spring frost and late season rains. Combine this with the economic challenges of the late 19th century and it’s easy to see why producers replaced Lacrima with less temperamental and higher-yielding vines.

Lacrima, however, is a unique variety. It is related to Muscat – and, like that grape, produces wines that are deliciously perfumed. Think floral aromas of rose, violet and Turkish delight alongside spicy white pepper, combined with a palate that offers vivid bramble fruit and plenty of structure. Recognising its rarity, a handful of winegrowers started to champion the grape and the variety was officially recognised with the creation of the Lacrima di Morro d’Alba DOC in 1985, legally protecting it. Since then, plantings have expanded and there are now over 300 hectares of the grape across the region, with an association of around 20 producers committed to championing the wines.

When Alberto Gandolfi established Filodivino in 2013, there wasn’t any Lacrima planted on the estate – but he soon sought out a vineyard nearby that he leased and later purchased, planting an additional swathe of vines near the winery in 2015. Today the team at Filodivino makes two still red wines from Lacrima, as well as a pét-nat and rosé. They’re even experimenting with a traditional-method sparkling wine, made in the same way as Champagne.

Although legally Lacrima di Morro d’Alba can be sold as early as the December after harvest, a little like Beaujolais Nouveau, and historically has been treated as an earlier-drinking style, the team at Filodivino disagrees. “We believe it has huge potential for ageing,” Matteo Acmè tells me firmly. Tasting the winery’s two still renditions of Lacrima, Diana and Soara, it’s easy to see why – the wines entice with their charming aromatics, but the palates offer refined but firm, chalky tannins, tart acidity and plenty of fruit – in short, everything that is needed to allow them to age.

Thanks to the work of local producers like Filodivino, Lacrima has been preserved for the future – offering one more reason to visit this beautiful corner of Italy.

Close-up of ripe Lacrima grapes on the vine at Filodivino estate, Morro d'Alba, Le Marche Italy

Hands harvesting white grapes by secateurs during vintage at a Le Marche winery, Italy

View through a winery window across Lacrima di Morro d'Alba vineyards to a farmhouse on the hill, Le Marche Italy

Harvest worker pouring freshly picked Lacrima grapes into a collection bin during vintage at Filodivino, Le Marche Italy

Rustic metal winery directional sign at Filodivino estate, Morro d'Alba, Le Marche Italy