This month at #ItalianFWT, we turn our focus to Lazio, a region well known for its culture, famous landmarks, and Italy’s capital city: Rome. Frascati also dwells in Lazio with the grapes of Malvasia del Lazio (Puntinata) and Malvasia di Candia, along with Trebbiano, that take centre stage.

Bellone, however, is native grape of outstanding quality. It is an ancient grape dating back to Roman times and is capable of producing both dry and sweet wines (it likes noble rot). What I’ve tasted reminds me of Chardonnay in some form, so working in a retail environment, it’s a correlation that people can understand: If you like Chardonnay, I’ll bet you will like Bellone! Sadly, many of the vines of Bellone got ripped up and producers who have the opportunity to make some great Cannellino Frascati DOCG, don’t use Bellone, but rather inferior grape varieties.

If you DO happen to come across Bellone, it’s a fabulous wine, and one of my favourite whites to drink! Casale del Giglio was founded in 1967 by Dino Santarelli.  The vineyards are located 50km south of Rome where the Mediterranean oceanic climate with persistent sea breezes and warm, mild days with cool nights give the grapes the much needed diurnal swing to keep the acidity high, while allowing a fast ripening process. Indigenous yeasts are used, adding to the complexity of the wine. No oak here, just four months in stainless steel to keep the wine fresh and the acidity high. 

What a beautiful colour this wine was! Yellow with a green tinge; an expressive nose of citrus and melon, along with hints of papaya and pineapple. On the palate, the citrus and melon continued with medium body, high saline acidity and a bitter almond finish! It went down pretty easy…

When choosing this wine, I wasn’t exactly sure what I would pair with it at the time, but decided something with umamu might fit the bill! It was Taco Tuesday so it worked out perfectly! The saltiness of the meat, along with the added creaminess of the cheese and the acidic bite of the tomatoes worked very well with the wine! It was so good that I had to have two tacos (and another glass of Bellone…)

If you’d like to know more about the wines of Lazio, please check out what the other #ItalianFWT bloggers are writing about!