The Frascati Wine Tour

10.00 - 18:00

Pick up at the hotel

First stop at “Strade Vigne del Sole” wine-farm (Grottaferrata), where they make excellent Latium wines, and Antonio Cugini will tell you incredible stories about the “art of making wine”.

Then you will visit Castelgandolfo (the Pope’s summer residence): from the Belvedere you will admire Albano Lake and then you will walk outside the historical Papal Palace.

Stop at “Casale Certosa” wine-farm (Pavona-Albano), a small but very active place, where the owners will welcome you with their prestigious products.

13.00: Lunch at one of Ariccia’s famous “fraschette” – “Dar Burino” - where you will enjoy a traditional Castelli Romani meal: hors d’oeuvre with porchetta (roasted pork), prosciutto, salami and olives; main course, a choise from Amatriciana pasta, Carbonara pasta or dumplings with tomato sauce; woodfire bread and local wine.
OR
13.00: Lunch at one of Castelgandolfo’s famous “fraschette”, with a view on the lake, where you will enjoy a traditional Castelli Romani meal: Porchetta (rosated pork), prosciutto, salami, cheese, olives, bread and local wine.

Short trip around Nemi Lake, small and gorgeous volcanic lake with its beautiful omonimous little town (if it’s Spring, you will try the most wonderful wild strawberries with whipped cream ever!).

On our way to Frascati, we’ll cross Rocca di Papa, another charming medieval town plunged in the middle of sweet green hills.

Nearby Frascati you will visit the archaeological excavations of Tusculum, an ancient Roman town, and as a snack you will taste Marino’s famous “ciambelline al vino” with Passito wine, sitted in the beautiful picnic area inside Castelli Romani’s Regional Park.

We will then top at “Cantine Conte Zandotti” wine-farm, where you will visit an extraordinary cellar situated in a Roman cistern, and the Count Zandotti will introduce you to his ancient and precious wines.

Visit at Colonna, the smallest among castelli Romani’s small towns; you will walk along its steep little streets and stop at “Francesca Cardone” wine-shop, where they make and sell only organic wines. You will taste something special!

Last stop will be at “Cantina Cerquetta” wine-farm, a historical place where they’ve been making wines for centuries. The perfect way to say “goodbye” to Castelli Romani!

Return to the hotel

The Terroir
The foremost reason why the wines of Castelli are so good is due to fertile volcanic soil rich in potassium and ample sunshine which are extremely favorable to the production of white wines.
Latium D.O.C. wines are obtained through a various combination of grape varieties. The chief constituents being trebbiano and malvasia with the addition of various amounts of Greco, bellone, bombino bianco (white grapes), and Cesanese, Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Merlot (red grapes).

The Grapes
Trebbiano An important white-wine grape, due to it's extensive planting. Estimates indicate that Trebbiano produces more wine than any other variety in the world
Malvesio A grape that has existed for about 2,000 years. It's believed to have come from the area around the Aegean Sea, possibly from what is now the southwestern area of Turkey and the islands between Turkey and Greece. Malvasia is primarily a white-wine grape, but it has many known subvarieties.
Greco A white-wine grape grown in southwestern Italy's CAMPANIA and CALABRIA regions. Greco's origins are certainly Greek, although there are numerous theories as to how this ancient variety was introduced into Italy

Legend
It is perhaps the most extensively cited wine in Italian literature. All Roman legends, literature and popular traditions concerning wine begin and end with Frascati, which is surely one of the best known, most celebrated and mythologized wines in the world. Its reputation was enhanced by its influence on Roman customs. By 1450 there were already 1,022 famous taverns nearly all owned by producers of Frascati wine, who leased them out under contracts resembling the modern fast food chain franchising agreements.

Characteristics
* COLOR: pale yellow more or less
* SCENT: winy with a delicate characteristic smell
* FLAVOUR: palatable sapid, soft, fine and velvety
* TASTE: Dry are the wines which have maximum 1% of sugar residue Sweetish are the wines, which have sugar residue between 1% and 3% Cannellino or Sweet are the wines which have sugar residue between 3% and 6%
* Alcoholic volume in total: minimum: 11% The "Frascati Superiore" wine has to have more than 11.5% of alcoholic volume.
The Frascati is very good with Hors d'oeuvres, Soups, pasta, fish, white meat, and cheeses and also as an aperitif.

Area - Colli Albani - South western part of the Alban hills and the area bordering Nemi, Genzano and

Lanuvio.
Cultivated for centuries, the vineyards that provide grapes for the making of the Colli Albani grapes are situated in a zone noted for its patrician villas, monasteries and sanctuaries that extends southward from the Lake of Albano. It includes the communes of Ariccia, Albano, Pomezia, Castelgandolfo and Lanuvio.
Albano wine is without doubt the ancestor of the Castelli Romani wines in general and the modern Colli Albani in particular.

However, winemaking is even older than Imperial Rome. The hills were the site of the Latin community of Albalonga, which existed before the foundation of Rome.

Over the centuries, the Colli Albani wine has never lacked admirers and the citations by illustrious personalities are legion. The wine's popularity undoubtedly goes beyond its undisputed quality. For centuries, the popes have maintained a summer residence at Castelgandolfo in the heart of the production zone. The fresh fragrance of the wine appealed to the pontiffs and to the numerous aristocrats, artists and literary figures who frequented their court.

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