Wines of Lazio: Regillo Frascati Superiore

Regillo 

Frascati

D.O.C.

Superiore

2009

Tenuta di Pietra Porzia

   I've been on a Frascati kick lately.  The spring is here, finally, it is heating up, and I am working hard in my garden, so I like to enjoy a crisp Frascati at dinner most nights.  Tenuta di Pietra Porzia makes one of my favorite go-to table wines.  It is a bargain at €5 a bottle at the supermarket.  In fact, it is one of the only supermarket wines I will buy anymore.  It has an interesting name that evokes the pre-Roman history of the area.  In image on the label depicts the Dioscuri, the twins sons of Zeus.  The name refers not only to the ancient history, but to the terroir of the area. 

The Castelli Romani is most well known as an agriculturally rich area due to the now extinct volcanoes that gave the area its mineral rich soils.  The Regillo Frascati certainly does not disappoint those who want to taste the minerality in their wines.  

     Before the hills of Rome were finally assimilated by the Romans, a group of people known as the Latins held on for as long as possible to their lands and way of life.  But it was not to be.  Anyone familiar with ancient history knows that one can never escapes ones fate.  Rome had the hand of the gods on their side.  

According to their website: 

496 a.C, in a large amphitheatre with the lake Regillo in the middle, an hard battle took place between Romans and Latinos; in the crucial moment, descended from the sky the Dioscuri, the two twins born by Jupiter, and led the Romans to triumph!

The battle theater is today the Tenuta di Pietra Porzia, a small river that runs in the centre of the estate reminds of the ancient lake, the cave with her long passages, excavated in Roman Empire Age, testifies an agricultural tradition and on 1714 the estate was divided between the proprieties of Pope Clemente XI and the one belonging to Prince Borghese. 

The date 1892, engraved in the bricks, reminds the birth of the modern cellar, that replaces the ancient cellar excavated in the tuff in the Roman Empire time. 

Let's hope this wine lives up to its magnificent past!

     Regillo Frascati is made up of two aromatic white grapes, Malvasia di Candia and Malvasia del Lazio and also contains the grapes Trebbiano, Bombino and Greco. The color is a rich hay yellow.   It has lovely fruity and floral aromas at first which then lead us to more complexity with mineral and herbal notes.  The fruits are typical and rich.  I was at once reminded of apricots, citrus, and pears.   Spring orange flowers, nuts, and maple with notes of fresh cut grass.  

The wine is perfect for an late afternoon glass of wine, pre-dinner drink, or with a light vegetable rich dinner.  I love this with Pasta Fagioli and grilled veggies.  It is light and refreshingly crisp.  In a nutshell, a crisp, dry, medium bodied, aromatic and fragrant wine.  

Enjoy after a long day of gardening! 

    

Towns of Lazio: Alatri

      Last weekend, we had one of the last days of warm sunshine until March or April, I fear.  We took full advantage and headed straight down to the Hernico mountains, stopping by the city of the popes, Anagni, along the way.  Anagni is a gorgeous town in Lazio that is not to be missed, but, when it came to choosing a place to eat for lunch, Alatri has one of my favorite osteria in Lazio.  Being about a 30 minute drive from Anagni, we booked the last two places available at the Osteria Bacco e Ciacco, and had ourselves a wonderful day out.
     Alatri is a wonderful town nestled in the heart of the Hernico hills.  The Hernico Hills are to be found in the south of Lazio, in the region of Frosinone, and border with Abruzzo.  They are both cultural and natural treasure in Lazio with their picturesque mountains which are perfect for hiking, and birdwatching, skiing.  Then, the 16 historical towns that make up the mountain  community.  They are named after a pre-Roman culture that once resided in the area, the Hernico, who were eventually assimilated and swallowed into the Roman empire. 

 

View from the acropolis of Alatri

 

Alatri is the best preserved town of the province, the town walls and acropolis date back to the 6th century B.C. and are still intact.  The walls of the town best show the the technology of the Hernico people.  They are huge and will impress even the most cynical of people. 

  

The large size of the massive stones brings to mind the legendary Cyclops, after whom they are named.  Cyclopic stones.

 

 

The outside wall of the 6th B.C. acropolis

 

«Ye citizens were wont to call me Ciacco;
For the pernicious sin of gluttony,
I, as thou seest, am battered by this rain.» (Inferno, VI, 52-54)

     The name, according to Buti, one of the oldest scholars of Dante,  suggests a derogatory nature of this name: "Ciacco is said to be a pig's name, hence he was called this way for his gluttony"  Bacco, or, Bacchus, of course is referring to the roman god of wine.  With a name that refers to the sin of gluttony and the pagan god of pleasure and wine, one may expect delicious treats inside.  And they definately to be had. 
     This was our third visit to the osteria, and we were a bit skeptical when we entered into its new location.  Our first two visits had been darling.  The osteria was a hole in the wall with the capacity to seat about 15 people, max.  The new location is to levels and has the capacity to seat at least 50 people.  With the change, would the quality of the food change?  Would the service be less friendly and personal?  It only took us about 5 minutes to realize there was nothing to worry about.  They were able to move to a bigger location based on the quality of the food.  The place was packed, the service excellent and friendly with the addition of ONE waitress, and the food, in a word, excellent. 

 

We started with a bottle of local Cesanese del Piglio, which you can read about HERE. 

Mixed grilled vegetable and crostini antipasto

 We started with the mixed grilled/roasted vegetables and mixed crostini. This included grilled marinated eggplant, grilled marinated zucchini, roasted red peppers, grilled radicchio, and roasted fennel.  Everything was prepared perfectly.  The vegetables were the most flavorful I have ever eaten.  The marinated eggplant was incredible, perfectly grilled with delicate flavors of olive oil, garlic, and Italian parsley.  I could tell each vegetable was individually prepared because they all retained wonderful aromas, texture, and flavor balance.

 Crostini with black truffle sauce

The main event for me were the mixed crostini, which are small toasts.  They came with a small amount of oil dribbled over them, and with tiny serving bowls and spoons for self service.  The sauces were all homemade, fresh and lovely.  They included black truffle sauce, hot peppers, and an olive paste.  Of course my favorite was the black truffle, which paired excellently with the Cesanese del Piglio. 

Close up of roasted fennel and grilled vegetables.  

Primo: Strozzapreti with a walnut and pumpkin sauce

     For my first course, I ordered the strozzapretti with a walnut and pumpkin sauce.  Strozzapreti are a simple handmade pasta made from water and flour, which which are then manipulated into a sort of corkscrew shape.  Their name means, "strangled priests."  Even though the name is historical, it is a bit relevant in today's Church atmosphere.  I have also seen they called "Strangled Husbands."  

    My dish was outstanding.  The walnuts gave it a bite while the pumpkin gave it a velvety smooth texture.  It was creamy, rich, and hard not to stuff the entire plate in my mouth at once.  The pasta was perfectly cooked as well, and each corkscrew held the sauce well, ensuring that each bite was a luxury of pasta and sauce.  I am sure this would not be difficult to make at home.  While I was eating them, I couldn't help but imagine thinly sliced white truffles on top.  Maybe next time I should bring one of my Tuscan truffles with me and secretly slice the truffles over it while nobody is looking. ;)

 

Cime di rape in padella

     For my second course I ordered a side dish of cime di rape in padella, which are sauteed field greens from the area.  Man,  it was a delicious plate and a great way to finish off my meal.  I love cime di rape because it is both slightly sweet, when cooked with garlic, and slightly bitter.  It is healthy as well.  One cup of this vegetable will provide more iron than a beef hamburger patty, which I would never eat because beef is disgusting and comes from a murdered cow.  I'll take the field greens, thanks!

I actually finished off with a few slices of pineapple.  I like to end my meals with a piece of fruit to aid digestion.  Pineapple is fill of enzymes that are perfect for this.  

Osteria Bacco e Ciacco

Via Duomo 11

Alatri, FR

0775 447090

reservations recommended, closed Mondays

For a fun day trip from Rome to Anagni and Alatri contact Antiqua Tours

Why I love Italy in the Fall....

I just spent the weekend in Tuscany with Ettore and his mom, and it was fantastic!  I was able to attend the White Truffle Festival in Volterra, which I am soon going to write a blog on.  Unfortunately my house was robbed last week, and my computer stolen, so I don't have a proper computer with WORD, so it may bit awhile until I can write about anything with substance.  In  any case I felt compelled to leave you, my readers, with a few photos of what I bought at the market today, and also some photos of the black and white truffles I bought.  I love Italy in the fall because mother nature is really showing off her gifts.  As a vegan it is my favorite time of year, there are chestnuts to gather and roast, truffles, pumpkins and all sorts of lovely veggies available.  I usually go down the road to buy my produce.  I buy it from a local convent of nuns and friars who have dedicated themselves to cultivating organic produce that is in season and in harmony with the land.  It is less than a kilometer away from my house and they also sell whole grain pasta.  Right now they are swimming in pumpkins, so I decided to ease their burden, and plan to make some pumpkin soup this week.  Enjoy the photos!

 Black and White Truffles, the Food of the Goddess

 If I could only smell one thing for the rest of my life, I'd be happy with the aroma of a white truffle!

Lovely veggies from the organic market down the road.  I'm thinking pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, roasted veggies, and I am going to can melanzane sott'aceto this year

Happy Harvest Everyone!!

Wines of Lazio: Cesanese del Piglio

Wines of Lazio:  Cesanese del Piglio

Casale Della Ioria

Cesanese del Piglio

Tenute della Ioria

2007

DOC

     It would be nearly impossible to have any sort of discussion on the wines of Lazio without discussing Cesanese del Piglio, Lazio’s first wine to acquire the D.O.C.G appellation.  We frequently take day trips to the region of Frosinone, which is south of Rome, we go for the fabulously underrated food and wine that we find in the many nearly abandoned towns in the mountains.  Piglio is a town in the ernico Apennines which is built on the foundations of a pre-roman town.  Piglio is near the medieval papal town of Anagni, and a day drip to a winery and a cultural visit to Anagni and lunch at Piglio make for the perfect day trip from Rome.  I  have already written about it HERE.  Piglio is now home to Lazio’s first DOCG wine(in 2008), a heartwarming red wine made from the Cesanese grape. 

     One of my favorite producers is Casale Della Ioria owned by the Perinelli family.  They make two Cesanese del Piglio, both from the Cesanese di Affile grape.  I am quite fond of the 2007 Tenuta della Ioria.  When we tasted it, when were in the amazing medieval town of Alatri which I think has Lazio’s best olive oil.  It is an intense ruby red wine, with gorgeous legs and great consistency.  It is suggestive of cherries under alcohol, blackberry jam, fennel, tobacco, earth tones, mushrooms, and sweet red peppers.  After w few minutes the dried red roses start rolling over everything, evocative of a very sensual perfume commercial from the 90’s.  It had balsamic notes.  In a nutshell,  a very complex and intense nose, but still developing.   Towards the end of our evaluation we started to smell coffee, but then we realized the waiter was making espresso!  This wine is dry, full bodied, with nice freshness.  I thoroughly enjoyed its rich but well balanced tannins that were harmonious with the weight and silky structure with slightly bitter finish.  It has a long finish that kept reminding me of fruits and dark earthy minerals.   I think this Cesanese has a great potential to age and soften but to remain complex.   A great wine in the winter to serve with complex and bitter foods, or roasted veggies with rosemary.

Wines of Lazio: Frascati Superiore

Wines of Lazio: Frascati Superiore

Casale Mattia

Frascati Superiore

Terre del Casale

DOC

2008

     Frascati is the white wine most often consumed by the Romans, and most of its production makes its way down the hills of the Castelli Romani to be consumed in the trattoria and osteria of Rome.  Typically in Lazio winemakers make wines for quantity over quality, so there are many mediocre Frascati bottles out there, but there is hope.  There are a number of producers that are making great Frascati wines that evoke both the fertility of the land and the aromas of the grapes used.  Frascati does not need to be a boring and tasteless wine at all.  Casale Mattia is making great wines from organic grapes and a combination of modern and traditional winemaking.  They use all natural methods in their wine making process including natural yeasts instead of GMO yeasts.  

     I tasted a 2008 Casale Mattia Frascati Superiore called “Terre Del Casale.”  I quite enjoyed it, thug I feel that most Frascati are best when consumed in their first year.  Visually, I could tell it had a bit if age(for a Frascati), as it was darkening.  It was a very crystalline hay yellow with moderate consistency with average arches.  The hay color had a bit of golden hue in it as well.  It had very intense aromas that were clean and crisp which were suggestive of citrus such as grapefruit, lemons, and limoncello.  Underneath all that was the aroma I most associate with a Frascati, apricot.  It also had undertones of citrus flowers, fresh cut grass, shell like minerals, and fragrant bread.  On the palate it was medium bodied, dry to off dry, very fresh, silky, and with a long mineral finish which came directly from the volcanic soil the vines are planted in.  I enjoyed every sip, and think it is a perfect white wine for the spring and summer, but even in the cooler months when we start to make soups.  The aromatic qualities would pair perfectly with a warm minestrone or vegetable risotto.  

Rocca Massima: Locanda dell'Arcangelo

Narrow streets of Rocca Massima

     Yesterday I barely moved from the sofa because it was so hot and humid here.  Poor Ettore had to work under the hot Roman sun, and when he came home it was much cooler than what the Romans feel in the summer, but still deathly hot for me.   We live in the hills outside Rome, the Castelli Romani.  The air is cleaner, fresher, and cooler during the summer, which is why on weekends, loads of Romans come up here to eat, cool off, and take a swim at the Lake near Castel Gandolfo.   We Castelli residents need to cool off as well, and we need to escape the loads of nasty porchetta eaters in Ariccia.  Last night,  Ettore and I headed up to the hills to a small little town called Rocca Massima.  It was a lovely evening.  We could see the Castelli from a bird’s eye view, and gaze from the top of the town that overlooks the sea.  Rocca Massima is very close to Cori, and has pre-roman roots.  Like many towns in Lazio, it is a small medieval hilltop town built on the foundations of a previous culture.  Rocca Massima belonged to the Volsci, which is also the same people of the town of Velletri, and many argue that the greatest emperors of Rome had Volsci roots, as they came from these towns. 

Tuscany's new rival?

     We hoped into our car and drove through fields that could easily compete with anything I have seen in Tuscany.  I went a bit wild with my new camera’s panorama setting! 

     We escaped the heat of Genzano, and of course ran into a bunch of Genzanese people with the same idea.    The difference for us and a Roman meeting another Roman in the Castelli is that we all actually know each other.    There was a local food and wine festival going on which had an itinerary that led visitors all around the town.  We didn’t come for the festival, though.  We came to have a relaxing dinner with a nice view.  

Locanda dell’Arcangelo

     We decided on a cute little B&B at the very top of the town called Locanda dell’Arcangelo.  They had a wonderfully descriptive menu filled with local treats and a wine menu that had a fantastic selection of wines from Lazio.  Everything was very inexpensive.   Ettore and I love going to these old towns outside the Castelli and outside Rome.  Latina is a province in Lazio that I think is the place to watch.  We eat fresh and seasonal vegetables, we try new wines by winemakers that have a passion for the history of their land, and we learn about cultures of the region.  What I love about Lazio, besides the food and wine, is the fact that for us, a drive of about 20 minutes took us to a completely different place.  Homogeny doesn’t seem to exist between towns once you escape the province of Rome.

View from our table

     Another delightful point:  Lazio is one of the easiest regions to be a vegan.  The kitchen is loaded with incredible vegetables.  They are also extraordinarily diverse.   We always order an antipasto of vegetables, and every place we go outside the province of Rome  has their own selection of locally available goodies.  

In Rome and the provinces of Rome it is always the same plate of boring grilled vegetables.  Outside the province of Rome t

hey are sometimes what the family has growing in their garden, what was available at the market that day, and sometimes what they find in the field. 

Antipasto

     

    Locanda dell’Arcangelo  had an enticing antipasto di verdure which included grilled eggplant, stuffed eggplant, lightly roasted carrots with thyme, cipolline in agrodolce(sweet and sour pearl onions),  Gaeta olives, insalata d’orzo(Barley salad) , bruschetta, and zucchini.  The bruschette were inedible.  The bread was at least a week old and they didn’t add any salt.  Everything else was fine.  The pearl onions were especially delicious.  We ordered a bottle of Marco Carpineti  Capolemole Bianco 2009.  Carpineti is the winery I want so much to succeed, and I wrote about in an earlier blog.  The wine had a lovely hay yellow color, lovely floral and fruity aromas, with a hint of bread, but it was someone flat and lacked acidity.  

Gorgeous Pasta

     
     For my first dish I ordered an absolutely scrumptious pasta con zucchini, radicchio con olio, aglio e menta(pasta with zucchini, radicchio, oil, garlic and mint). It was a well balanced plate of heaven.  The radicchio and zucchini were perfectly cooked, the pasta wasn’t loaded with oil, the aromatic flavors from the garlic and mint were utter perfection in my mouth.  And despite the wine’s lack of freshness, the aromas and fruitiness paired well with my aromatic dish.  I was very happy.  And full. 

Super greasy radicchio ;(

    

Of course we ordered everything at the beginning of the evening when our stomachs were empty from not eating lunch earlier(too hot to cook) and we both had a case of eyes are bigger than the stomach, but we did not cancel our contorni of vegetables we ordered.  We ordered grilled radicchio, cicoria, and French fries (say what you want, they were delicious).  The radicchio was grilled and swimming in oil and Aceto Balsamico  that tasted artificially sweet.  We only took a few bites.  The cicoria was nothing special, but at least it was cooked well and not dripping in oil like I tend to see in Rome.  The French fries were homemade and perfect.  Almost as good as the perfect plate of fries I once had at the Madonna Inn many years ago. 

     

     

          Cost for two people with starter, first, sides, a bottle of wine and a fantastic view? 

€50

I love Latina.

Our Day in Piglio

Our Day in Piglio, Latium, Italy


Our day in Piglio.
A few week ago Ettore and I were tired of being house bums and decided to get back into our old routine of going for a Sunday drive to a town within two hours of Genzano for a walk and lunch. We decided we would go to a little mountain town called Piglio which is located in the hills of Frosinone, which is a province of Latium. Piglio is "famous" for a native laziale varietal called Cesanese and Cesanese del Piglio has the excited new designation of a DOCG wine, which is th first in the region of Latium.
After the fall of Rome is 476 C.E. Rome experienced a huge change, which was a population drain and a brain drain. When the Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from the city of Rome to Constantinople, many of the skilled crafts people left, as well as scholars. Rome's population in th 5th c. dropped to about 10,000, although some estimates say 20,000 people. With the collapse of Rome in the west, Italy was espeically plagued by constant evasions by the so-called Barbarians. Without a central power securing the city of Rome, many people fled the area and moved into the hills of Latium where they built these amazing medieval towns out of stone totally isolated from anyone else, but also protected from invasions. Piglio is a great example of this. In the Middle Ages, Italy was primarily made up of hundreds of little city states, all at odds with each other. What happened is really what defines Italy today, a country of extreme diversity in culture, language and kitchen. Many people went back to their roots, to the villages of their ancestors before they were Romanized. The Hernici once ruled this region.
The Pigliesi retained their cooking and wine making skills for centuries without interuption, many of these traditions were brought from classical Rome. When one drinks the native varietals of Latium, one drinks the wine of the Classical Romans. It is a very exciting time in terms of wine production in Latium, with native varietals being rediscovered and wine producers realizing they have gold in their hands, and instead of relying on the internationl grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, they are places their bets on what seems natural, and what will thrive in the region.
So on this cloudy day, we decided to give ourselves a few hours break from our sick puppies, and took a drive into the real backwater countryside of Latium for a small taste of what the town offered.
After a very pleasant one hour drive from Genzano on the Autostrada, We encountered this town built of whatever stones were in the area. I would have hated to be the peasant who had to transport good from the fields to the town!

Due to recent rains(I should say never ending rains!) the countryside of Piglio was very green, and even though the vines of Cesanese were lifeless at the moment, the had an air of nobilty and age that no New World wine countryside can compete with.

When we got to town it was still too early for lunch, so we decided to have a walk in what seemed like an ancient ghost town, but surprisingly we came across people just minding their own business. This lady seemed to be taking laudry from the well to hang to dry. The people of these sorts of town are very interesting. It is rare to see young people, and the older people really hang on to their traditions as if glued to them. Ettore enjoyed hearing their dialect. He couldn't understand. That is what centuries of isolation created!!

It is good to know Italians never lost the ability to make the Etruscan arch. That's right...the arch is NOT a Roman invention, but something Romans took from the Etruscans when they conquered them.I love to study pre-roman Italian civilizations.

So we finally saw a child. Sometimes people who are from these towns move to the cities, but they never forget their roots, and come home for Sunday lunch.

When it was finally lunchtime, we found a real hole in the wall, down a stone alley, with the smallest door. The only reason when knew it was a open for lunch it because of the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. It was cold, and we cold smell minestrone and polenta, cold weather foods that appealed to our cold hands.

The restaurant is called La Cantinetta. They weren't quite ready to serve lunch, but they welcomed us anyway, and we got our table and ordered the house wine, which was made by the owners Uncle, a lovely Cesanese del Piglio, which was lovely with the grilled vegetable antipasto which were the best tasting grilled vegetables I have ever tsated. they were perfect, straight from the garden, and with a very earthy homemade olive oil from the region. YUM!

For lunch I ordered the Polenta di Porcini which was more of a creamy polenta with fresh mountain porcini, most likely fund in the forest behind the town. I can tell you it was delicious, but not very good looking, which is why I didn't take a close-up photo.

Ettore ordered the Penne di carciofi the pasta with artichoke. It was also delicious, and not as bitter as many artichoke dishes are, which was great in terms of being to taste the wine. Sometimes the bitter metalic property of artichoke interferes with wine. It is notoriously hard to pair with wine. Ha! You can actually see the fork moving in the photo. It was so delicious, I couldn't get Ettore to wait 5 seconds while I took a photo!!

All the food was extremely fresh, the kitchen aromas were enough to appeal even the pickiest eater. We had a lovely day trip, and the best part of it was the cost. Our meal, which was two antipasti, two primi, two desserts, house wine, and caffe was only

30 euro for both of us.

It was really one of the best meals of my life. Simple country food, that was satisfying in is simplicity, but also in it's soul and heartiness. I can't wait to get there in the summer, when everyone is boiling in Rome, I will be enjoying the cool mountina breeze of Piglio, sipping on a local wine. We saw that there argreat haking paths in the area and want to make a backpacking trip in the area. Hiking all day, eating local cuisine at night. Our favorite kind of vacation. The first year I lived here, Ettore and I would go on spontaneous day trips like this all the time. This tradition has waned, but I am hoping to revive it. Italy is so diverse, even a town about 50km away is like a different country for us.