Feel the charm of Mount Conero: inhale all perfumes of its forests among Brooms, Lavenders, Myrtle; meditate deep into the silence of its sacred places.
Touch the art, history, culture, archaeology and museums of our cities: Numana, Sirolo, Osimo, Recanati, Offagna, Ancona and Castles. Get lost through the mazes of the underground caves of Camerano and Osimo.
Take a break and immerse in the spirituality of Loreto, Osimo and Ancona.
Venture into the imposing impressiveness of Frasassi caves. Play in the wonderful Conero Golf court in Sirolo Get carried away by waves and wind, on a sailing boat, wind surf, canoe… along Portonovo, Sirolo and Numana bays. Enjoy horse riding, or walking and climbing and explore by mountain bike all paths of the Conero Mount and biking routes of our Territory. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world diving.
Take part to the rich program of shows and exciting events around the area. Taste wines, products, gastronomy of our land along the way of Rosso Conero wine. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world diving.
Come and feel at home... We’ll take care of all the rest...
The cuisine of the Conero Riviera is generally simple, not too rich in fats and spices. It is called "poor cuisine" in which the food maintains its authentic flavour. The changing seasons and the products obtained from land and sea influence the menu.
It excels in seafood, meat, pasta
and vegetable dishes.
Therefore, it is a pluralist cuisine
as “Le Marche”.
In the Marche cuisine you can find
a lots of seafood dishes favored by
the abundance of fish in the sea (it
should be noted that the Marche
is one of the main region of Italy
with the largest fleets)such as: the
grilled “saraghina”fish; “papalina”
fish omelet; the fried or breaded
soles; the “orate all’anconitana” ,
grilled and seasoned breams with
extra virgin olive oil and parsley;
the “Pauri”, big local crabs boiled
and seasoned with extra virgin
olive oil and a little bit of lemon;
the marinated “moscioli”, mussels;
the savory “pannocchie” ,local
crustaceans; the octopus and
cuttlefish cooked in a thousand
ways; the “crocette”, “bombarelli”
and “raguse” in porchetta, local
mussels enriched with wild fennel,
Italian herbs and garlic.
A special place in the Conero cuisine is occupied by the “stoccafisso” (stockfish) and the “brodetto” (a local fish soup). In honour of this ancient delicious dishes, seasoned with the local extra virgin olive oil, three Academies were founded to promote the diffusion of these specialties with events and competitions. Many cities of the Marche coast are famous for the “brodetto”. There is not only one way to cook the “brodetto marchigiano” (a seafood soup with at least seven kinds of fish) but you can find several traditional recipes: “brodetto di Ancona” , “brodetto di Portorecanati”, “brodetto di Sanbenedetto” and “brodetto di Fano”. Each of them has their own ingredients and aromas… this is also pluralism. The “stoccafisso all’anconitana” is a particular fish dish with a strong taste cooked in Ancona and dated back to 1431, even if its authenticity has been long debated. It can be cooked with or without potatoes, with or without milk… in any case it has lots of followers!
In Ancona the “moscioli” are the wild mussels or Mytilus galloprovincialis that reproduce naturally and live attached to the submerged rocks on the Conero coast. The “moscioli” are appeared here from the beginning of the twentieth century when their fishing was limited in some areas, the “Trave” cliff and other cliffs and shallows between Pietralacroce and Sirolo cities. The fishermen love to eat them freshly, smelling like sea and seaweeds, cooked on a fire plate, without any dressings or marinated with garlic, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, white wine, pepper and a splash of lemon. The mussels are seasonal products and you can fish them from April to October. The fishermen of the Slow Food worked hard to ensure the origin of the mussels from the fishing areas and the traceability throughout the maritime supply chain. We cannot forget the delicious “raguse in porchetta” (murex brandaris o trunculus) slow cooked in tomato sauce with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and wild fennel, perfectly pairing with Conero red wines.
In Ancona and surrounding area also grow many varieties of vegetables, little known elsewhere: the “roscani”, a variety of marsh grass seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar and melded with lesser calamint and garlic to create an intense aroma; the “pincicarelli”, flower bunds of the thistle known in Ancona and eaten fried, boiled or in stew. The name derives from “pincicare” or “puncicare” that in dialect mean “to sting” due to the leaves with sharp prickles; the “paccasassi”, a wild fennel variety; the “grugni”, a wild chicory variety; the cauliflower; “the broccoli strascinati”, pan-fried broccoli with garlic; the “misticanza”, a mixture of vegetables; the chickpea seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and rosemary; the “cicerchie”, a legume variety; the beans with sausage and fresh pork rind.
You can’t miss these traditional local first courses : the “polenta”, cornmeal mush usually eaten on a wooden pastryboard with a sausage sauce and pork chops; the “pingiarelle”, bread dough pasta seasoned with lard; the “lasagne incassettate” and the “Vincisgrassi”, oven baked pasta; the “Cannelloni”, a cylindershaped pasta filled with meat; the “Calcioni”, a variety of filled pasta; the “pasta pelosa”, a rough handmade pasta, the spaghetti with mussels, clams or “bombarelli” ,sea snails; the “paccheri allo scoglio”, a variety of pasta with tomato sauce and shellfish; vegetable or legume soups with a base of fried lard; the “pastasciutte al sugo finto”, pasta with simple herb tomato sauce; “boccolotti al sugo d’oca”, a variety of pasta with goose sauce. The excellence of the cuisine of the Conero Riviera continues through the countryside products as the tasty vegetables and the variety of genuine meats from animals, bred in the countryside and hills of the Marche region: sheeps, cows, pigs, rabbits and chickens. The traditional Conero Riviera cuisine is not predefined but full of surprises thanks to the great mastery of food preparation . There is a huge choice of traditional second courses, among the most popular: the “pollo e il coniglio in potacchio”, chicken or rabbit meat in stew with aromas; the “pollo e coniglio in porchetta”, chicken or rabbit meat with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and wild fennel; the “manzo brasato alla marchigiana”, braised beef; the grilled or oven baked “ciarimboli”, pork intestines salted and dehydrated with chili pepper, fennel seeds and other aromatic herbs, usually eaten hot between two slices of bread; lamb seasoned with herbs, especially garlic and rosemary; the tasty “spuntature”, intestines from not yet weaned milk calf, roasted and seasoned with pepper; the delicious “porchetta”, roasted pork meat stuffed with salt, garlic, pepper, rosemary, fennel or other wild herbs; the “trippa alla canapina”, tripe with tomato sauce, herbs and parmesan cheese. Talking about the desserts, there is one for every season and event. Therefore, the richness of this territory derives from the excellence of the cuisine to taste and pair with the local fine wines.
Conero is not only the toponym of the beautiful mountain that plunges down into the lido Adriano of the Adriatic Sea but also the new appellation of the DOCG red wine reserve since 2004. The first wine quality certification of Rosso Conero was the DOC, earned in 1967. Despite the production disciplinary permits the use of Montepulciano grape for at least 85% and for the remaining 15% of Sangiovese, many producers usually prefer to avoid the blending. Montepulciano is a red wine mountain grape variety coming from Teramo and Aquila areas but established here centuries ago.
Known as “el Vì roscio de Ancona” (the red wine of Ancona in dialect) it was eulogized by the naturalist Bacci and the ancient Benedectine monks of San Pietro al Monte hermitage. The Conero area is ideal for this strong and robust grape variety. Thanks to the experiences, the small and large wineries investments and the know-how of the wise wine specialists over the years, Rosso Conero is appreciated as a quintessential wine throughout the world. Thanks to its wonderful fruity aroma of dried black cherry, spices and balsamic, the Rosso Conero Riserva stands out immediately between the national wine scene.
Five million years ago the Conero was a mountainous island in the Adriatic Sea, not a volcano as an old untrue folktale said. An intense thrust tectonic of the Eurasian fault lifted the Marche Region, pushing/ moving the sea water away from the Appenini Mountains to its current location/position. The island merges with the landmass and thenceforth it became a seamount. In every restaurants of the Conero Riviera you can enjoy delicious fish dishes and pair them with a great wine. The red one doesn’t pair with the fish, for this reason old local grape varieties have been revived, such as malvasia, incrocio Bruni 54 (crossing of Verdicchio and Sauvignon wines, created in the 30s in the Pesaro area by Professor Bruno Bruni).
Other varieties have been imported such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon… so we can found and taste new fragrant white wines of the Conero area. In addition to “the big red brother”, this wine family extends itself to the fresh fruity slightly aromatic rosé and the elegant sparkling wines, produced using the Martinotti and Classic Methods …but the wine family completes itself with the dessert wines and the “visciolato”: the first one born from the old white Muscat grapes and the second one is a cherry wine that pairs beautifully with barry cakes, cherry pies and sinfully with chocolate desserts. We never expected from a calcareous clay-rich mountain caressed by the sea breeze, a full range of wines highlighting our traditional meat and fish dishes but it’s not surprising/it’s not coincidence that the Marche region is pluralist.