Eremo Tuscolano, the Frascati Superiore wine that comes from silence

On the hills of Tusculum in the inaccessible land of a convent of the Camaldolese hermits there is a vineyard, protected by a forest, from which an excellent Frascati Superiore DOCG is obtained

There is a Castelli Romani wine that comes from vineyards embraced around a sacred hermitage strategically located, and very isolated, on top of a hill looking towards Rome. Where there are no centuries-old walls to separate the hermitage from the rest of the world, the forest takes care of it. Within this silent microcosm live the hermits who follow obedience to the rule of Saint Benedict, monks in a condition of complete enclosure, totally dedicated to prayer. In the lands once dedicated to their gardens, well away from the religious buildings, Mario Masini, owner of the Valle Vermiglia company, produces the Frascati Superiore Tuscolano Hermitage. Mario Masini has carried out his personal project to relaunch the Frascati appellation, planting a vineyard of about 8 hectares starting from 1996 to aim at producing a very high quality wine that would set itself as a point of reference for the historic tradition of the white wine of the Castelli Romani.

Masini's ambitious project stems from the close bond of his family with the world of Frascati wine, a strong feeling towards its origins. Indeed, it was thanks to the commitment of his grandfather, the Minister Pietro Campilli, that on 3 March 1966 the Denomination of Controlled Origin (DOC) was recognized for Frascati, inserting it thus among the first four Docs established in Italy. Decades later, on 20 September 2011, it was Mario Masini himself, also a Member of Parliament of the Italian Republic who saw his commitment and that of the then Consorzio dei Vini Tipici Frascati crowned with theobtaining the Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin (Docg) for the "Frascati Superiore".

The hermitage from which the wine takes its name is located on Mount Tusculum a Monte Porzio Catone, in the province of Rome, and is a settlement of the Congregation of the Camaldolese hermits of Monte Corona. The beautiful vineyards spread over the various slopes of the hill are barely visible from the outside of the Hermitage and cannot be visited at all, in compliance with the monastic rule, which only accepts workers when necessary for the production of wine.

The Frascati Superiore Eremo Tuscolano has revealed itself, since first vintage produced, 2012, a strongly territorial wine that sums up the characteristics of the grape varieties traditionally grown in the Castelli Romani: Malvasia del Lazio (also known as malvasia puntinata) with an intense and fresh flavor that gives it a peculiar aroma, Malvasia di Candia, rustic and full-bodied , with a golden color and a fragrant and slightly bitter taste, the Tuscan trebbiano, which gives the wine freshness and acidity, the yellow trebbiano, with a slight scent of toasted almonds, and the white bombino, which gives the wine body, harmony, depth and persistence. With these characteristics, the Frascati Superiore Eremo Tuscolano reached its last vintage, 2017 which casually expresses the enveloping radiance due to the character of the vintage, alongside a distinctive and usual acid-sapid trace which makes it an excellent companion for many traditional Roman dishes. Served very chilled, it is an excellent aperitif on cod fillets, seafood appetizers, mixed fries. The most gluttonous and centered combination remains the one with pasta alla carbonara, a real competition food-wine combination: the sweet tendency of the egg and the pasta, the fat of the pecorino cheese and bacon, the spiciness of the pepper make the pair with the slight aromatic sweetness of the Malvasias, the rustic heritage of the Trebbianis and the saline texture of the taste, traceable only if you are dealing with a wine that is the son of a volcanic mother.

In honor of the times in which one was forced to "eat lean" the memory goes to the pasta and broccoli soup in sprightly broth, fortunately never abandoned by some cuisines in the Roman tradition: the olfactory intertwining of the wine goes well with the development of the aromas of the dish which in this case are offered by the marked intensity of the broccoli - better if Romanesco-, the garlic, the pecorino and the intrinsic aromaticity of the sprightly broth; it is then when tasted that the pairing becomes great due to the natural attraction between the sweet tendency that comes with broken pasta, cooking fat and cooked and partly creamy broccoli, and the sprawling flavor of the wine; not to mention the almond counterpoint of the Romanesco vegetable, never completely tamed by cooking, and the savory dose of pecorino which are very well diluted to the taste by the soft part of the wine in the blend made up of Malvasia.

Sacred and profane as always chase each other in the game of life. Where wine becomes almost a single bridge between ascetic life and a reality made up of seasons and simple gestures such as those necessary for its production and where, again, everything revolves around a cloistered religious institution that draws its origins from an internal split to the order of the Camaldolese dating back to 1520.

Anyone wishing to approach this place and breathe its scent of prayer, silence and mystery can look out the front door of the Sacred hermitage which looks at the side of Monte Porzio Catone from the side of Monte Tusculum towards the Valle del Sacco. It is the only access to the religious complex, which with its structures of 1607 and built on the ancient remains of a Roman villa, it is located beyond 500 meters of altitude above sea level. It consists of the church of San Romualdo, with an eighteenth-century facade, the buildings that house the monks' homes, the very rich library of the sacred hermitage accessible only to scholars and only to religious. Strictly men only. No women. It's the Rule.

Cost: 18 Euros