The day dawned clear with just a bit of cloud (which the sun had already burned off). We decided to continue our explorations on another glorious day and drove up to check out a couple of wineries in the countryside around Jesi. We had enough of searching for wineries near cities after Monday’s failed trip to Ancona. Our initial track was the same as we drove through Macerata, but then we turned more northerly rather than heading east for the coast. We found the first winery, Saratelli (http://www.sartarelli.it/en/Prodotti/#&panel1-1), without too much trouble and sampled several wines. As a whole, they were better than what we could buy in the store and we took one each of their three wines that were based on the local verdicchio (ver-DEEK-ee-oh) grape. We decided to grab a bit to eat before setting off for the second winery. We found a local restaurant, which meant it was definitely off the tourist track. Although the staff spoke only Italian, we managed to select our meals without too much trouble. The generous portions certainly mopped up any of the alcohol from the wine tasting. We located the next winery, Pievalta (http://www.pievalta.it/Homepage_eng/), but it was closed. We took another route home, taking a more direct route south through Cingoli and on to Tolentino. At first, the hills were gently rolling and reminded us of Tuscany. Then, we entered into more familiar Marche terrain with steeper slopes and higher hills. The town of Congoli sat perched on the side of a tall hill, which reminded us a little of Cortona. We drove across the ridge and down the other side into Tolentino. Another 25 minutes (since Tolentino is where our usual supermarket is located) found us home before the rains.
