The best wines from Lazio in Italy

Once upon a time, Roman emperors drank the wines of Lazio, from the vineyards around Rome. Nowadays, mainly white wine is made in Lazio. A lot of bulk, but also very nice wines from a handful of good wineries. Red wines from French grapes are on the rise in Lazio.

Check out our wine from Lazio

It will come as no surprise that the vineyards around Rome are thousands of years old. In ancient times, red Falernian wine was made here from the now extinct Aminea grape. Today, about 85% of the wine from Lazio is white. Mainly from Trebbiano and Malvasia. A large part is of mediocre quality, intended for the Roman terraces.

Certainly not all white wine from Lazio is mediocre. Some winemakers press excellent wines. Often on the slopes of volcanic hills. They have united in the group 'Le Vigne del Lazio' and strive to improve the image of Lazio. They are quite successful. Some experiment with French blue grapes such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. They seem to be very happy in Lazio and produce good wines. Others grow more forgotten grape varieties from the region, such as the Cesanese and the rare Rossetto.

Est! Est!! Est!!!

A striking appellation from Lazio is Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone. Not only because of the quality. It varies from nice to good. But especially because of the story. In the year 1111, the German bishop Johannes Fugger travelled to Rome to attend the coronation of Emperor Henry V. Fugger sent his servant ahead to find a suitable inn on the route. He agreed with him that when he had found a good inn, he would write "Est" ("here it is") on the door. If the inn also served good wine, he would write "Est! Est!" on the door.

Just before the town of Montefiascone, the bishop saw an inn with the following written on the door: "Est! Est!! Est!!!". This was not agreed, but the bishop understood that very good wine was served here. It turned out to be a blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia. Incidentally, Bishop Fugger never arrived in Rome. He stayed in Montefiascone for three years and literally drank himself to death. He was buried there and left his entire fortune to the city. We currently have one wines from Lazio in our range. You can view all our wines from Lazio here.