The Lazio wine region in Central Italy isn't one wine consumers discuss too often. Did you know that Rome is located in Lazio? So if you thought you had never heard of it or visited Lazio, you have been if you've visited Italy's capital. This is a white wine dominated region with wines I've shared in the past, including Est Est Est di Montefiascone and Frascati, made primarily from Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes. Merlot is one of the leading red grapes produced in Lazio, but today we will highlight a native red grape, Cesanese.
Cesanese is named after the town of Cesano located in the Castelli Romani south and southeast of Rome. Most of the Cesanese vineyards are grown in this area in the high hill towns of Affile and Piglio overlooking the Sacco and Aniene river valleys. Lazio has a few appellations based on the Cesanese grape including two DOC's, Cesanese di Olevano Romano and Cesanese di Affile. These DOC's make up a large portion of the vineyards for the region. There is also one DOCG, Cesanese del Piglio, that was established in 2008 and is the only DOCG of Lazio based on red grapes. For those more technical and interested in clones, a few Cesanese clones are used in producing these wines, including Cesanese Comune, Cesanese d'Affile, and the latest clone, Cesanese Nostrano. Cesanese d'Affile is known to be the better clone of the bunch.
Lazio wine regions copyright of Federdoc
Cesanese, pronounced chay-sah-nay-say, is a grape that produces low yields and is known to ripen late into the season, well into October. This can be one of the challenges for this grape based on the climate, as it may not fully reach ripeness in certain vintages. It produces medium-bodied wines with fruity and floral aromas, lively acidity, and softer tannins. The fruit tends to be rich and ripe cherry with spice and some earthly characteristics. It's best enjoyed in its youth.
I
was invited to a virtual tasting, led by Jo-Ann Ross, on the wines of
Orvieto sponsored by the Consorzio Tutela Vini di Orvieto and the
Commonwealth Wine School located in Cambridge, MA. I visited Orvieto about 7 years ago days before I got married in Tuscany. I was thrilled
to really dig into this wine region that I just don’t think gets the
attention it deserves. I’m featuring a 2 part series this week. This week I’ll
focus on Orvieto and the Umbria region along with the grapes that make
up Orvieto and the regulations that producers must follow to be part of
the Orvieto DOC. Next week I’ll share some of the wines I tasted and
tell you a little about the varied Orvieto producers.
The Orvieto wine region
Orvieto is town set up high on a hillside made of tufo
in the landlocked region of Umbria in central Italy. The wines of the
Orvieto DOC span both Umbria and the northern part of the Lazio region.
The vineyards are influenced by nearby Lake Corbara and Lake Bolsena as well as the Paglia and Tevere Rivers. This area was once covered by an ancient lake, Tiberino,
that left behind a variety of soils including sedimentary soils made up
on sandstone, clay and sand, alluvial soils and even porous, volcanic
soils. When we think of Italian wines made from volcanic soils you’re
probably not thinking of Central Italy, nevermind Orvieto. This is just one of the many reasons these wines must be explored.
Winemaking in Orvieto dates back to the Etruscan times when the vines were planted off of trees. Around the 3rd century BC
the area was taken over by the Romans. After barbarian invasions and
other takeovers, viticulture took a hit. It wasn’t until the Middle
Ages when viticulture was restablished into daily living by medieval monks. It declined again for centuries until 1860 when it unified under the Kingdom of Italy.
View from Orvieto
The grapes of Orvieto
Orvieto
wines are historically made in an off dry style, but today are most
commonly produced in a dry style. Although, late harvest, known as vendemmiatardiva, and wines that face noble rot, known as muffonobile or muffato, are produced in the area as well.
The Orvieto DOC was established in 1971. The primary grapes that make up the Orvieto DOC wines are Grechetto di Orvieto, Grechetto di Todi and Procanico. The Orvieto DOC does not make a distinction between the two Grechetto grapes and therefore wine producers can leave a general labeling as Grechetto without deciphering between the two. Grechetto di Orvieto is a native grape to Umbria that has mildew resistent skins and is a great selection for producing the Muffa Nobile wines. Grechetto di Todi is the parent grape to Grechetto di Orvieto and is genetically identical to Pignoletto of the Emilia Romagna region in northern Italy. Procanico is a biotype of the Trebbiano Toscano grape and this grape along with the Grechetto
grapes all produce wines with high acidity, which is what I found most
refreshing about these wines and is typically the style I gravitate
towards.
There are also secondary grapes that producers can add including Verdello, Malvasia and Drupeggio
at lesser percentages. You may also see some international grapes used
like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Vermentino. In order to be
labeled as an Orvieto DOC wine the blend must be comprised of a minimum
of 60% Grechetto and/or Procanico
and a maximum of 40% of other authorized grapes previously mentioned.
The wines labeled Orvieto DOC Classico must come entirely from within
the Umbria region and the historical area of Orvieto. Those labeled as
Orvieto DOC Classico Superiore have a higher alcohol level, lower
yields and have at least 5 months of aging.
Visiting Orvieto
I
loved my visit to Orvieto, known as the “green heart of Italy”. It
seems so untouched and serene in comparison to its neighbors. I drove
there and seeing it in the distance set high up on the hill it looked
like quite the journey to get to the top. Even from where I parked it
was a little hike up the street, but I took a nice little break
strolling into one of the local churches to light a few candles as I
always love to do in Italy for my deceased grandparents. It’s easily
accessible also via the train system and they even have a funicular that
can take you right to the top of the town.
I'm always fascinated with Duomos when visiting Italy and the one in Orvieto is beautifully made of limestone and tufo. I had a great time roaming the alleys, checking out the artisan shops and even taking an underground tour of some of the tufo
caves. These caves were dug out by Etruscans in search of water and
discovered to be great areas to make and preserve wine, which some of
the producers still use today.
The
views looking over the rolling hills lined with cypress trees and
medieval towns and villages wasn’t all too shabby either! If the views
weren’t enough to entice you this is a region known for their black
truffles, lentils and my favorite, chocolate!
So
don’t let the marketing and hype of some of the other regions
overshadow places like Umbria and Orvieto. Take a trip and find out for
yourself and discover some of these lesser visited hidden gems.
Whether you may have heard the name Lazio or not, if you’ve
been to Italy most likely you visited Rome, which is actually in the central
region of Italy called Lazio. Not a
region I’ve written about too much on here and mostly because I don’t see wines
from Lazio all too often. Katarina, our
host from Grapevine Adventures chose to feature the region of Lazio for Italian
Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) this month.
With such limited time lately I actually stopped at a couple stores and
couldn’t find a bottle. Regardless, when
learning about Italian wine it’s best to learn about all the wine regions, especially
some of the best known from those regions and those that are the least
discovered gems. I decided to share with
you today one of Lazio’s featured wines known as Frascati. This will probably be one of the wines you’d
most likely come across if you were to seek out wines in the market from this
region.
Lazio is a region dominated by white wines by about 70% over
reds that are primarily based on the Malvasia and Trebbiano white grapes. In Lazio you’ll find a couple different types
of Malvasia including Malvasia Bianca di Candia and Malvasia del Lazio. In the Lazio wine region they have the most
planted Malvasia Bianca di Candia in all of Italy. The same goes for Trebbiano where you will
discover Trebbiano Giallo and Trebbiano Toscano.
Malvasia di Lazio - Copyright of Consorzio Vini Frascati
You’ll find the appellation of Frascati up in the
southeastern hills outside of Rome in an area known as Castelli Romani. The Frascati appellations take their name
from the actual town of Frascati located there.
When we’ve spoken about volcanic wines in the past throughout Italy Lazio
may not come first to mind, but the soils located in and around Frascati consist
of volcanic matter.
Lazio hosts a very large number of DOCs with limited DOCGs
and Frascati occupies 2 of the 3 DOCGs of Lazio: Frascati Superiore DOCG and Cannellino
di Frascati DOCG. What makes up the
difference between the Frascati DOC, Frascati Superior DOCG and Cannnellino di
Frascati DOCG? Since the wines are all
produced within this area there are some differences in what classifies the
wines produced in this area into each appellation.
Both the Frascati DOC and Frascati Superiore DOCG are made
from the same requirements of grape composition at 70%+ Malvasia Bianca di
Candia and/or Malvasia del Lazio and up to 30% blending grapes. The Superiore though has lower yields, higher
alcohol levels and can produce a Riserva style with a year plus of aging. Typically, Frascati is a light-bodied, dry
wine showing apple, florals and citrus. As
with many Italian wines the Superiore will tend to produce wines with more
complexity and depth over the regular Frascati DOC.
Cannellino di Frascati DOCG on the other hand is more of
dessert style wine produced from the same variety and percentages of grapes,
but the grapes are produced in a sweeter style opposed to the dry versions we
previously discussed. It’s mandatory
that the grapes be harvested late, but it’s optional whether the grapes reach the
favorable disease known as botrytis, also known as noble rot, or whether or not
they go through an appassimento process where the grapes are partially dried.
Cannellino di Frascati DOCG - Copyright of Consorzio Vini Frascati
What’s your experience with wines from this region?
Join my fellow Italian wine and food lovers as they share some
other great selections of Lazio’s wine region.
Catch us live on Twitter this Saturday at 11am @ #ItalianFWT. Ci vediamo!
Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Lazio in California: The Quintessential Roman Pasta + 2017 Big Sur Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve
This post today is
dedicated to all those whom lost their lives and the towns that were
destroyed by the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Italy this past
Wednesday August 24th, 2016. Some of the towns affected
in central Italy were Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto, Norcia
and others. As many of you have probably heard much of the detail I
won't reiterate this terrible tragedy. The pictures are
heartbreaking. The death toll is close to 300 and growing with
hundreds injured.
According to CNN
the town that got hit the hardest was Amatrice with over 180 deaths.
A fellow Italian blogger, Mike
Madaio of Undiscovered Italy, came up with a fantastic idea to
host a #virtualsagra as this weekend would've marked the 50th
anniversary of the Sagra degli Spaghetti all'Amatriciana meaning
Festival of the dish, spaghetti all'amatriciana. The festival is
held every year on the last weekend of August. This dish hails from
the town of Amatrice located in the Lazio region of Italy around 60
miles northeast of Rome.
I've actually
never prepared spaghetti all'amatriciana before because I'm not one for anything that has a
kick to it (in this case chili), but in honor of this tragedy it's a must to prepare this dish to honor Amatrice through food and wine. It's a rather simple dish to prepare with few ingredients including spaghetti (although many use bucatini),
pecorino cheese, chili and guanciale. Guanciale, pork butt, is used
in this dish, but with short notice of preparing for this and having
a newborn I wasn't able to escape to hunt that down, but you can
substitute this dish with bacon or pancetta. This is also a dish
well enjoyed in Rome where tomatoes are an additional ingredient, which I
prefer myself. I topped it with some Tuscan extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil. I'll discuss more about the wine, Montupoli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, and pairing when I write about the wine in an upcoming blog.
Unfortunately this
festival won't be taking place this year and who knows what the
future brings, but we can all pray for the families whom have lost
loved ones and the long road ahead for these towns in rebuilding
their history, homes and lives. I'm offering some links for you to
be able to go to and donate as well. I can't say I've been to this
area specifically, but as a fellow Italian American a donation is the
least I can do to help and I hope you feel the same way too. It's
important we support each other in this world as you never know when
the time may come that you would need the support in return.
One of greatest parts I find about
blogging are meeting folks from all around the world and sharing our
passions for wines and travel throughout Italy. One of those
contacts that I casually became acquainted with online is an American
expat, Rick Zullo, whom now
lives in Rome and provides an in depth look and lots of tidbits into
living life in Italy, especially Rome. I was honored when he
reached out to me for a podcast interview to discuss Italian wine.
This would be the perfect time to
announce my recent passing of the North American Sommelier
Association Italian Wine Specialist certification exam. This program
came to the Boston area in the fall of 2014 and after 6 long months
of immersing myself in the books of Italian wines and living and
breathing it daily I'm proud to announce that I passed the exam with
distinction.
I wanted to sign up for this course when I saw it was
coming to Boston because I want to grow to be a fantastic online
source for Italian wine and to help promote and educate the world on
what Italian wines are all about. I will not ever call myself an
expert when it comes to Italian wines as I feel that it takes years
to truly know the ins and outs of all there is to know. There are folks that have been doing this for 20-30 years and these
are some of the folks I admire that truly have sampled a number of
these unique and indigenous varietals that I write about, met
countless winemakers and traveled through all the regions of Italy
really digging in and learning the terroir. I do the best I can from
all my travels throughout Italy and what I've learned and am
continuing to learn, but I haven't loved wine all my life so my
experience is much more limited. Every person must start somewhere
though, right?
Last week Rick and I provided an
introduction to just a few of the Italian wine regions including
Lazio where Rick resides, Sicily and Campania. We discussed some of
the top wines and grapes from these regions along with other tidbits
of winemaking throughout Italy. Join us for about 30 minutes for a
brief introduction to Italian wines and stay following my journey as
we explore the never ending, intriguing world of Italian varietals. So join Rick and myself for this podcast and get yourself started on an introduction to Italian wines. This week I'll also feature a perfect wine day trip outside of Rome if you're looking to experience the wines of Lazio for yourself. Stay tuned!
Welcome to our 9th
Italian Food, Wine & Travel (#ItalianFWT) event where we
feature the food, wine and travel of a different region every month.
This month our group focuses on the Lazio region located in
central Italy. Earlier this week I shared some highlights and a
preview of Lazio.
Map of Lazio ~ Copyright of Federdoc
I always love to explore the wine and
cuisine of each region and tie in my travels if I can. Mostly all my
explorations of the Lazio region have been multiple times to Rome so
I figured I have so much more to offer on the cuisine and wine of
Lazio with my featured pairing: Chicken Saltimbocca alla Romana with
a 2009 Casale del Giglio Petit Verdot.
Trevi Fountain ~ Rome
Wine Pairing - Casale del Giglio Petit Verdot
The founding father of Casale delGiglio, Berardino, was a wine merchant. The three sons (Antonio,
Isidoro and Emidio) began their partnership Berardino Santerelli &
Figli in 1914. The business grew to include 11 wine and olive
stores, “vini + olii”. In 1955 Emidio's son, Dino, founded
Santarelli S.P.A where they sold wines of Lazio. In 1967 is when
Casale del Giglio was established at Le Fernere, a hamlet in the
provicne of Latina which is about 30 miles south of Rome located in
the Agro Pontino Valley. Talking about generation after generation
keeping it within the family, in the early 90's Dino's son, Antonio,
then took over and with winemaker, Paolo Tiefenthale, from Trentino
began producing wines under the Casale del Giglio brand.
The area where Casale del Giglio
resides has much unchartered land where there weren't generations or
years of what works and what doesn't when it comes to winemaking. In
1985 Casale del Giglio began a project where they partnered with
other researchers and professors experimenting to figure out what
would grow the best. They worked with 60 different vines and today
the winery consists of about 160 hectacres where they mostly work
with Bordeaux grapes.
The 2009 Casale del Giglio petit verdot
is purely made from petit verdot where part of the fermentation is in
stainless and wood. It's aged 8-12 months in barrique with an
additional 6 months in the bottle. It's a full bodied wine with intense red berries and cherry. Silky tannins with a little bit of pepper.
Food Pairing - Chicken Saltimbocca alla Romana I paired up this month with a fellow
columnist in the Boston Italian magazine that we write for called the
Bostoniano. Francesca Bruzzese is a fellow american from Rhode
Island whom is living in Rome and writes a food blog, Pancakes and
Biscotti. Francesca and I discussed the best potential pairing with
her expertise on Roman cuisine and came up with her Saltimbocca
alla Romana recipe to be paired with my selection of the Casale
del Giglio petit verdot pairing. I imitated her saltimbocca recipe,
but made some substitutions. I'm not a huge fan of veal so I
actually substituted her choice of veal with chicken. I also am a
big fan of mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes so I added that to the
sauce I made along with some garlic scapes from the local farmshare
that I joined this year.
The petit verdot was a nice pairing with this particular dish and complemented the flavors well. Casale del Giglio also recommends another typical Roman dish known as costolette di abbacchio al forno, which is an oven-roasted lamb cutlet.
Wait......there's more! Join my fellow
bloggers with their feature on Lazio:
Italophilia– Visit Ariccia with Buona Sera Mrs. Campbell
If you're seeing this early enough make
sure to join us live on twitter at 11am EST at #ItalianFWT. Tell us
your food, wine or travel stories of Lazio. We look forward to
chatting with you then. Next month on Saturday August 1st
we'll feature the island of Sardegna in Italy. Feel free to reach
out to me and join us! Ciao ciao!
Entering into our 9th
Italian Food, Wine & Travel (#ItalianFWT) event where we
feature the food, wine and travel of a different region every month.
This month we focus on the Lazio region in Italy located in
central Italy, also known as Latium in Latin. Surrounded by
the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and Marche to the north as well
Abruzzo and Molise to the east, Lazio borders the Tyrhennian Sea.
Colosseum ~ Rome, Italy
When everyone thinks of Lazio they immediately think of the capital of not only Rome, but Italy itself. Of course within Rome itself you have the Colosseum, Vatican City with St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Although no one can take away the rich history of Rome and the Romans, with every region though, if you break outside the typical norm of tourist attractions each region has much more to offer if you let yourself immerse within the region of Italy that you're in.
The Lazio region may not be one of the
top regions in Italy when it comes to wine except for some of its
well known whites including frascati and Est! Est! Est!,
but its archeaological treasures and the Roman cuisine are what
attract folks from around the world to this region. The landscape of
Lazio is full of flatland and hills with lakes and ancient thermal
spas still in use today, one of the most popular being Tivoli
that also contains two UNESCO World Heritage sites, Villa
d'Este and Villa Adriana.
Don't forget the Lazio soccer team for
all you sports fanatics!
We will be featuring all of our Lazio
articles on the food, wine and travel to this region on Saturday July 4th so
make sure to check back here. Also, join us live on Twitter at 11am
EST Saturday July 4th at #ItalianFWT and share your
experiences and knowledge on Lazio, Italy. There is still time to
join us as well and we always love new perspectives and expertise.
Email me at vinotravels at hotmail dot com. Ciao ciao for now!
