Italian wines Lazio

While in southern Italy, thanks to the influence of Greek domination, several centuries before Christ vine was cultivated and a great importance was given to the production and consumption of wine, in the center of the peninsula ancient and warlike populations, devoted most of all to sheep farming, were more careful about the retrieval of water.




The Etruscan kings were those who taught Latin populations the art of agriculture and introduced viticulture, as well as it happened in northern regions. The first written attestation relating to the cultivation of vine in Lazio dates back to around 450 BC.

We have to wait for the start of the Roman domination of the Mediterranean (around the third century BC) to see an actual interest of the people of Lazio for wine. Especially, it was the arrival of the first Greek slaves, who already boasted a centuries-old knowledge of vine-growing, that gave way to an evolution of viticulture in the region. In a short time the Romans were able to cultivate vine, to prune it and to make grafts according to the teachings of the Greeks, though with modifications due to the characteristics of the territory.


With the conquest of the Gaul, the Romans exported their techniques of grape growing and wine production. Always the Romans issued laws for protection and preservation of the vineyards, with even corporal punishments for those who minimally damaged vineyards.




This golden period of vineyards and wines in Lazio continues until the twentieth century, when, as in Europe, parasitic diseases of the vine arrived. We have to wait until after World War II to see, slowly, the wine system recovered, although for decades local producers have focused much more on quality than on quantity.




Fortunately, in recent years there has been a certain change of trend and there are some wineries, especially small ones, that are investing financially and emotionally on native grapes to make wine pursuing quality.






The Lazio of wine has changed a lot over the last decade and many more attention is now paid to the wine-growing areas. The Cesanese area is certainly a won bet-revelation, as evidenced by the results obtained at national level: Cesanese di Piglio, di Affile and di Olevano Romano are now a qualitative reality at regional reference. Much progress also have come from Aprilia, Cerveteri, Tarquinia, as well as by the historical Est! Est!! Est!!! of Montefiascone and Frascati.