About the Producer:
Much like the whites of Liguria’s Cinque Terre, those of Lazio’s
Frascati zone are consumed in vast quantities. The source of this
popularity, however, is Rome’s tourist population, a multitude
that does not exercise a great deal of discrimination. The producers
of Frascati are all too happy to oblige, with a prodigious output
that earns Lazio sixth position in the productivity rankings for Italy’s
20 regions. The majority of these bottlings are indistinguishable
from one another, essentially constituting a generic mass. It doesn’t
have to be this way, though. Indeed, Lazio’s Alban Hills, which
comprise Frascati and Lazio’s eight other main DOCs, establish
Lazio’s viticultural credentials, given their well-drained,
potassium-rich volcanic soils. Moreover, the liberal nature of the
Frascati discipline innately provides for the crafting of distinctive
wines. For example, a Frascati may derive wholly from Malvasia, a
grape that exudes a lovely floral perfume, shifting into a tropical
fruit dimension on the palate. Nevertheless, it may also be
crafted exclusively from Trebbiano, a fairly neutral white, and producers
who privilege quantity continue to cast one of Trebbiano’s many
clones in the lead role. There are those, however, who seek to craft
wines for a discerning palate, endeavoring to get the most out of
Malvasia and Trebbiano, while also involving other grapes.
While this culture is presently dedicated to winning back some of
its former rankings, almost inexplicably, it also possesses one of
the wine world’s most compelling legacies— the wines of
the late Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, the Prince of Venosa. Ludovisi’s
wines—a Bianco, Sémillon, and Rosso—are presently
under the charge of a select few—three individuals who work
to place what remains (of a bequest to the late wine critic Luigi
Veronelli) with a proper and highly discriminating audience. Utilizing
an early form of organic viticulture and maintaining exceedingly low
yields, the prince crafted wines that defy the seeming limits of their
constituents.
The wine in question is the subject of another Laziale wine
story—one whose protagonists, like the Prince of Venosa, operate
outside Lazio’s formulaic treatments. Leaving the royal realm,
we enter a sacred one—the convent of Monastero Suore Cistercensi.
The nuns belonging to this community craft a wine named Coenobium,
which, despite its humble vino da tavola classification, is
hardly a modest, pragmatic project. This effort—the sole production
of this viticultural community— is overseen by Giampiero Bea,
the son of Umbria’s eminent artisanal producer Paolo Bea. Moreover,
while the wine features Lazio’s ubiquitous Trebbiano, it also
includes two rather unexpected contributors—Verdicchio and Grechetto,
the leading whites, respectively, of Le Marche and Umbria (we can
surmise how Grechetto landed a role here…); all varieties utilized
are cultivated organically.
When producers who are aware of Verdicchio’s late-ripening,
productive character approach it accordingly, enabling it to experience
a long-ripening season and controlling its yields, the grape delivers
a distinctive profile marked by herbs, pine, and a savory quality.
Grechetto’s demonstrative aromatics are equaled by its tannic
dimension, an endowment that renders it particularly unusual for a
white grape. In Coenobium’s production, both these grapes and
Trebbiano are macerated on the skins for a lengthy time to maximize
their expressiveness. Coenobium—which literally refers to a
community of monks—is a concentrated and complex expression
that seems not to be of Lazio’s earth, but rather, a wine of
divine inspiration.
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