For all the fuss the Romans made over wine in the days of empire, there is curiously little fanfare surrounding wine that comes from the city of Rome today. There’s no particularly good reason for this other than that history has an off-putting sense of humor, but we think that Roman wine deserves just a little bit more attention today. Antonio Pulcini certainly thinks so. His estate in the hills south of Rome has been famous for wine since the days of the Roman empire, and he lives the life of a winemaking hermit, immune to market forces. He keeps his crops impossibly small, in order to make wines with the intensity and weight they deserve. Where Frascati is normally light and insubstantial, the Colli di Catone has intensity and minerality that would be at home in the Loire or Campania. Antonio’s favorite grape is Malvasia Puntinata, which he considers Lazio’s premier variety. In his Frascati, he blends it with 30% Trebbiano and 30% Malvasia di Candia. Aromas of linden blossom, orange blossom, acacia, candied ginger, apple, tangerine, lime, kiwi, and smoky soil come in rapid succession. The palate is fresh and medium bodied, with vivid, textural orchard fruit notes like apple and pear with salt and stony earth and yellow rose petals. The finish is decidedly floral, and the wine is just the ticket for Caprese salads or curried chicken.

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August 2023 Newsletter Wines