Amordivino Wines
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Lazio

Population: 5.242.709
Surface (Kmq): 17227
Density (Inhabitants/Kmq.): 304
Main city: Roma (ROMA)
Other towns: Frosinone (FR); Latina (LT); Rieti (RI); Viterbo (VT).

Lazio is on the central western coast, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea, and home to the nation's capital, Rome. Traces of Etruscan civilisation are remarkable and can be found at Veio, Vulci, Tarquinia and Cerveteri, while evidence of the power base of the great Roman Empire remain everywhere. The region has long been the centre of a vibrant artistic community centred, since the Middle Ages, around the presence of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican City, seat of the papacy, is in the heart of Rome. The imposing complex of the Vatican Museums contains numberless outstanding masterpieces. The National Museum houses the most important archaeologic collections in the world, while the Capitoline Museum holds the oldest classic sculptures. Lazio also offers the tourist varied oeno-gastronomic itineraries which show the unique traditions and peculiarities of the Lazio cooking style.


 
 
  
 

Grape growing and wine making were well known to the Romans who produced excellent wines since Imperial times. The whites are the predominant variety - out of 25 DOC wines produced in the region, 20 are white.
Mostly Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes and, in lesser quantity, Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay and Voigner among the white and Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot, Cesanese, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese and Montepulciano, ripen along the volcanic slopes of the Colli Albani and other areas with soil rich in phosphorous and potassium salts.
Notwithstanding the sexy pleasure derived by sitting at a Roman trattoria on some narrow Trastevere lane or one of the many evocative Roman squares twirling spaghetti alla puttanesca or toying with ossobuco alla romana, washing it down with white Castelli Romani (Roman Castles) wine typically served in caraffa (carafe), we must say that there’s more to the scenery than the wine itself.
Unlike most wines in Italy, the quality of wine in Latium appears to have somewhat declined, the reason being that Rome itself represents a huge market that require low-cost wine. That said, we still advise our readers to sit down at any of those trattorie, soak in the sun while drinking chilled Frascati or whatever the house wine will be. In this case, the scene abundantly complements the food and wine and your memory of it will be a pleasant and long-lasting one.

These are the DOC wines from Lazio:
Aleatico di Gradoli
Aprilia
Atina  
Bianco Capena  
Castelli Romani  
Cerveteri  
Cesanese di Olevano Romano  
Cesanese del Piglio o Piglio  
Cesanese di Affile o Affile  
Circeo  
Colli Albani  
Colli della Sabina  
Colli Etruschi viterbesi  
Colli Lanuvini  
Cori  
Est! Est!! Est!!!  
Frascati  
Genazzano  
Marino  
Montecompatri Colonna  
Nettuno  
Orvieto  
Tarquinia  
Velletri  
Vignanello  
Zagarolo