![]() ![]() Like Frascati, the northeastern Italian wine’s name hasn’t always been a byword for arresting personality and quality. You could say something similar of another traditional Italian dry white wine staple of trattoria and pizza places: Soave. The pleasure derived from a wine like Castel del Paolis or the equally attractive Principe Pallavicini Frascati 2020 (£13.99, .uk) is all in the mouthwatering purity and subtle insinuations of lemon skin, blossom or hillside herb, a set of characteristics that means they are also adept at performing what their producers would see as their primary role as mouthwatering companions to food (especially fish). Waitrose Soave Classico, Italy 2021 (£7.99, Waitrose) At its best, Frascati is never super-showy or massively aromatic. In what is a familiar story across Italy, however, producers tired of having the name of their region associated with thin, acidic, quasi-industrial wines have persisted with a different approach, among them the Santarelli family, makers of the electrifying swirl of minerals and stone fruit of Castel del Paolis Frascati Superiore. ![]() There was a tendency, in the area’s fertile volcanic soils, to push production as high as possible, rather than curtailing yields in the hope of making wines of character and verve. I suspect many of us haven’t missed it because, even at the height of their popularity, the vast majority of wines produced in the Frascati vineyards in Lazio just south of Rome were never exactly memorable. Castel de Paolis Frascati Superiore DOCG, Italy 2019 (£18.88, .uk) When was the last time you drank Frascati? A wine that was once one of the staples of the UK’s vast Italian restaurant scene, has rather fallen from favour in recent years, languishing in that difficult place where passé has yet to become vintage. ![]()
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