Frascati (wine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frascati is an Italian white wine from the region of Frascati.
This wine, which is known throughout the world and is the standard-bearer of the wines of Rome, is produced in the communal territories of Frascati, Grottaferrata and Monte Porzio Catone. The district is the "agro tuscolano" or countryside of the ancient, pre-Roman city of Tusculum, on the Alban Hills.
It is perhaps the most extensively cited wine in Italian literature. In a sense, Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli, a poet of the last century but one who wrote in the Roman dialect, Romanesco, spoke for all other literary admirers of the wine when he wrote: "E' bono asciutto, dorce, tonnarello solo e cor pane in zuppa, e si a sincero te se confa' a lo stomico e ar cervello..." ("It is good dry, sweet, tonic, alone or with bread-soup, and if it is pure it agree to your stomach and your brain....").
All Roman legends, literature and popular traditions concerning wine begin and end with Frascati. Frascati's greatest accomplishment may be the lasting effect it has had on the customs of a city that has always been at the center of the world and of the fascination it has exerted over Rome's innumerable visitors. The city's famous taverns--there were already 1,022 in 1450--were nearly all owned by producers of Frascati wine, who leased them out under contracts resembling the modern franchising agreements of bar, restaurant and fastfood chains.
It is perhaps that commercial aspect that constitutes the current limit on Frascati, a wine that is appreciated and distributed throughout the world but that the consumer often acquires for emotional reasons rather than through an appreciation of its real qualities.
Frascati is made from Trebbiano, Greco and Malvasia grapes and has Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) status. The Superiore suffix implies a better wine, and this tends to mean a greater proportion of Malvasia in the blend as this adds flavour and structure.
