Wine, lace and beauty in the Marche’s Offida

Every winter, my son and I pass through the Italian region of the Marche so he can take part in indoor races in seaside Ancona.

These trips give us a great chance to explore all the picturesque towns in that region.

One of those picture-perfect towns that’s long been on my list is the hill town town of Offida.

For years I’ve “meant to get there”, but something always got in the way, mostly the need to get back to Rome by a certain time. Earlier this month, we were back in the Marche and passing by in the general area.

Once again, we were hurrying, and the weather wasn’t that inviting, but my son said I’d be saying for years I’d wanted to see the town and so we should go, rain be damned.

And we finally did!

Offida is a town known largely because of wine bottles.  The strong white wine, Pecorino, comes from Abruzzo and the Marche regions … and a large amount seems to be produced in Offida. In the past, I’d also seen photos of the town, and those photos showed it had a lot of charm.

After visiting, I can attest to the fact those photos are accurate.

And it is nice to see the place where many of my favorite summer wines originate. I need to come back one day to enjoy sipping a lovely Pecorino on this pretty main square.

This hilltown is also , so I learned, well known for the lace that has historically been made here. I am not a lace expert, but I enjoyed seeing the displays around town showing the types of lace this town is known for.

Offida is quite a small town. with only 4600 inhabitants. It is almost 300 meters from sea level, inland from the Adriatic sea, on the road to Ascoli Piceno. Historically, the twon was known for agricultural products (including then above-mentioned wine) and artisinal products.

Since 2008, it has been included among the Borghi più belli d’Italia, The most beautiful villages (borghi) of Italy. Borgi refer to towns that were contained within fortress walls and supported the town castle.

This was a short visit, but I’m so happy I went – after my son insisted. Already look forward to returning in better weather, but it was a pleasant passeggiata around this picture-perfect town on our visit.