Italian Wine Podcast

Welcome to the Next Generation and Episode 2409 of the Italian Wine Podcast. Today, McKenna Cassidy interviews Riccardo Baldi of La Staffa from Castelli di Jesi.   More about today’s guest:  Riccardo Baldi (born 1990) heads La Staffa, an organic family winery in Staffolo, Marche, overseeing twelve hectares primarily planted with Verdicchio and Montepulciano. Although he at first studied Economics, in 2009 he officially took over the cellar he co-founded with his father and swiftly immersed himself in vineyard and cellar management. Under his leadership, La Staffa became one of Italy’s most acclaimed producers, earning the Best Winemaker Under 35 award at the 2021 Food & Wine Italia Awards. A passionate advocate of tradition blended with innovation, Riccardo pursues artisan winemaking that both honors Verdicchio’s heritage and enhances terroir expression using modern insights . His flagship wines, such as the classic La Staffa, Rincrocca (from a 1972 vineyard), and the bottle-fermented “Mai Sentito!”, hig