The Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini (Consortium of the Marche Region Wine Protection) has authority because it has been able to construct an identity from these numbers. Starting at the beginning, IMT signifies the vineyards of the Marches region. The consortium doesn't just oversee a single appellation or a part of the regional wine production but its sphere covers almost all of it.
With over 850 member wineries in the provinces of Ancona, Macerata and Pesaro-Urbino, there is not much this consortium created in 1999 doesn't cover. Today it encompasses 45% of the region's vineyards, over 8000 hectares, and 90% of the wine exported from the region. In a territory which was historically and geographically divided like a comb by rivers which outline the borders of the various Marches (Medieval districts), a certain amount of 'stitching' was required to create a unit able to promote the different forms and types of wine produced in the area.
The larger wineries were needed to entice the smaller wineries and these smaller wineries in turn contributed by making the highest quality wines they could to give the area's wine production a complete and defined image. The make-up of IMT is rather similar to a digital photo, by zooming in the importance of each miniscule pixel can be clearly understood.
IMT lead by president Mr Gianfranco Garofoli and director, Mr Alberto Mazzoni, promotes wines from the Marche region using the most important element: the recognisability of the product. This is why numbers alone are not enough if there is no voice able to speak for them. The Institute has chosen a very innovative means of promotion and communication that creates a link between the product and its consumption: sensory analysis. IMT is a modern institution that draws its strength from the diversity of the appellations and the areas it covers. The consortium has grown year on year becoming a large institution able to safeguard the interests of the thousands of small elements that have undersigned the project.
The Marche are synonymous with multiplicity and diversity starting right from the composition of the soils.
The winning card, which was played many years ago now, was to focus on the indigenous varieties of the region. The regional directory of the indigenous varieties suitable for viticulture includes 52 grape varieties of which 30 can only be found in the Marche region. IMT has taken a modern approach also to satisfy market and consumer demands: today consumers are only interested in products that are unique. In the world of wine, each region has its flagship.