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Cristina Mariani-May is family proprietor and co-CEO of Banfi Vintners, America’s leading wine importer, and the award winning Castello Banfi Vineyard Estate in Montalcino, Tuscany.
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Not Your Father’s Frascati
(Nor Your Mother’s Cougar Juice Either!)
Cristina Mariani-May
co-CEO Banfi Vintners
America's Leading Wine Importer
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to look at things from a different perspective. And in my world, of course, that includes, predominantly, wines.
So when Fontana Candida Frascati came into the fold of my family’s wine importing portfolio, I had the ghosts of old perspectives to deal with. I thought, as many people did, of Frascati as being one of Italy’s “cheap and cheerful” contributions to the wine scene going back about three or four decades ago. One of the leading brands on the scene at the time was Fontana Candida. The voice of Frascati then seemed to be gradually drowned out by the shouts of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and other ‘fashionable’ wines. Frumpy old Frascati? Turns out she never went away, and she kept all her charm too – more like Sophia Loren in her ageless elegance.
On a recent trip to Rome, I saw a lot of Sophia – I mean Frascati – in establishments ranging from the chic to the local, Ristorante to Osteria, and every wine bar inbetween. There are a handful of very small producers making beautiful Frascatis, but it turns out that Fontana Candida is still the leader of the pack. Why? Very simple – because they never messed with the basics. They never tried to make her follow trends and styles, never subjecting her to time in French Oak Barrique or other non-traditional winemaking techniques. And to the Romans, an earthy, frank people not unlike the most native New Yorker, sincerity overrides all, especially when you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Frascati is a wonderful, flavorful wine which takes its character from the local volcanic soil. Its coolness provides quenching relief to the spicy, savory Roman cuisine – spaghetti all’amatriciana, cacio e pepe, roast lamb, even fried artichokes – but at the same time has plenty of its own flavor and zest to add to the mix.
Fontana Candida has introduced a new sibling to its Frascati Superiore, called Luna Mater, which basically just ramps up the flavor of the wine by using a different blend of native grapes and aging the bottles in grottoes of the local tufa stone. It is a deeper, more intense version of Frascati that truly reaches world class levels. Frascati Superiore and Luna Mater both earn a new look in this new year, a new perspective on a Roman treasure.
Fontana Candida Frascati – This ancient wine, born in the Roman hills, has deservedly been called "the wine of popes and of the people." Fontana Candida Frascati exhibits a delicate fragrance of wildflowers with a hint of Golden Delicious apples. This wine is refreshing and lively in character. Dry, elegant and soft with notes of peach and almond on the finish. Average national retail is around $10.
Fontana Candida Luna Mater Frascati Superiore – Luna Mater sets a new standard for Rome’s most renowned white wine. As mystifying and enigmatic as its namesake, Mother Moon, it reflects the wine’s close ties to nature, made from vines that are an average of 50 years old. Careful grape selection, dual harvests, some whole berry fermentation and optimal bottle aging in a tufaceous rock cellar yield undeniable complexity and elegance. Average retail is around $23 a bottle.UPC Fontana Candida Luna Mater 750ml 0 80516 66514
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