Frascati Superiore is the DOCG of the best-known white wine of the Castelli Romani. It was created in 2011 by separating the Superiore and Riserva versions from the Frascati DOC, with stricter rules on grapes, yields and ageing. It is a small appellation: about 170 hectares and just over 6,120 hectolitres a year.
The hills of ancient Tusculum
The area covers the whole of the municipalities of Frascati, Grottaferrata and Monte Porzio Catone, and part of those of Rome and Monte Compatri. These are the volcanic hills that look over the capital from the south-east, where ancient Tusculum once stood. Frascati Superiore is one of the signature wines of Lazio, together with the reds of the nearby Castelli Romani area.
Malvasia at the centre
The regulations require at least 70% Malvasia Bianca di Candia and Malvasia del Lazio, the variety known locally as Malvasia Puntinata. The rest, up to 30%, may come from Bellone, Bombino Bianco, Greco and Trebbiano, with no more than 15% of other permitted white grapes. Minimum alcohol is 12%. The Riserva ages for at least 12 months, three of them in bottle, and cannot be released before 1 November of the year after the harvest.
In the glass it is straw yellow, with aromas of white flowers, yellow fruit and almond; Malvasia Puntinata gives it body and a savoury quality that make it a white for the table rather than for the aperitif. It pairs well with Roman pasta dishes, vegetables and lake fish.
Two thousand years of vineyards
Vines on the hills of Tusculum are documented since Roman times: Cato writes about them in De agri cultura, and Varro recalls that in Tusculum the new wine could not leave for Rome before the Vinalia festivals. In 1515 the statutes granted by Marcantonio Colonna regulated vineyard cultivation, and Sante Lacerio, cellarer to Pope Paul III (1534-1549), ranked the wine of Frascati among the best of his day.
