Experience at Frascati Vineyard: Vine-to-Table
On a beautiful morning in Frascati, our host and the man behind the wine, Oreste Molinari, welcomed us into his vineyard to share a homemade Italian breakfast and his passion for his own family tradition of winemaking.
Oreste walked us through the vineyard while explaining to us the natural process of making wine that has been in his family for generations while surrounded by the most scenic views of the sunlight hills and Rome off in the distance. Although we were just a few kilometres away from Rome, it felt like we were in a tranquil Tuscan vineyard.
What is special about this Frascati wine?
Oreste shared his passion for this antique art of winemaking in the vineyard while sharing what makes Frascati wine so special. The grape vines grow in the volcanic soil of Frascati, giving the wine a distinct flavour.
Known to the Romans as “golden wine”, Frascati is made up of a few different types of grapes that give it a beautiful, light colour. The flavour of the wine is best when it is ‘young,’ therefore there is no better way to drink it than directly from the source, vine-to-table!
The flavour is light and crisp, so it can be paired with anything but it goes best with a traditional Italian vineyard breakfast.
Behind the breakfast:
After the tour of the vineyard, we were invited into a rustic cottage in the middle of Oreste’s property where he served two different types of his wine and a traditional Italian breakfast; It should not go unmentioned that Oreste’s family owns one of the best bakeries in the entire Castelli Romani area, so you can expect that the food was truly amazing!
The food that was served was a variety of frittata, cured meats, fresh ricotta, fresh bread, and a homemade white wine jelly (made from the Frascati wine, of course!). Oreste advised us to put the white wine jelly on a piece of bread with ricotta, which I never would have thought to do, and it was certainly a taste-sensation!
The traditional significance behind this vineyard breakfast made the whole experience come full circle. Oreste shared the story of how the vineyard workers would gather for this type of breakfast to enjoy a moment of pause in their workday.
Eating the breakfast in the company of the farmer and drinking wine from the very vineyard in which we sat was the most authentic Italian wine-tasting experience one could have on this side of Rome.
Why should you go?
I would recommend this experience to ANYONE; if you’re in Rome and need a dose of fresh air and fresh wine or want to escape the chaos of the city for a bit, this is the perfect way to spend your morning.
If you are interested in the farm-to-table dining experience of meeting the person behind your food and learning about their practices, you would thoroughly enjoy this vine-to-table breakfast. If you are searching for the perfect, authentic Italian wine excursion accompanied by beautiful scenery and good company, this would be the ideal!
Thanks to Maggie Cripe for this wonderful article
And you?