FRASCATI, ITALY
Just a half hour away from Rome, Frascati is a splendid little hillside town located in the Castelli Romani (Roman castles) area known for its beautiful villas. It's not only popular among tourists; Romans themselves love coming here on the weekends for an afternoon or evening stroll. The town is easily reached by a local train from Rome’s Termini train station. What’s even more convenient is that the trains run to and from Frascati every hour and cost €1.90 each way.
Frascati is perched atop a hill offering tourists and locals fresh air, good food and captivating views of surrounding towns and Rome from a distance. About 100,000 people live in this town, which is best known for its locally produced wine.
The wine takes its name from a tiny, ancient town in the hills just southeast of Rome. According to archaeological research carried out in the late 20th Century, grapes were cultivated for wine production here as far back as 5,000 BC.
Frascati town is one of the 14 Castelli Romani located in the Colli Albani, the hills that mark the southern edge of the campagna Romana plain on which Rome is located. The town's terracotta-tiled roofs climb steadily from 260 to 365 meters (850 to 1,200ft) into the northernmost hills here. On a clear day, Rome is clearly visible on the plain below, and just 25km (15 miles) to the west lies the Tyrrhenian coast.
Throughout the world, Fontana Candida is synonymous with Frascati. This ancient wine, born in the Roman hills, has deservedly been called “the wine of popes and of the people.”
While the Popes drank Frascati daily, the people would only drink it on important Vatican occasions. It is said that during the papal elections of Innocent X (Giambattista Pamphili in 1644) and of Clement X (Emilioi Altieri in 1670), Frascati spouted from the fountains, the marble nostrils of Marcus Aurelius’ horse and the lions of the Capitol to the delight and amusement of the people. Citizens rushed out with bottles and cups to capture the wine and enjoy it fully.
Fontana Candida was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Monteporzio Catone, Rome.
