There is no Italian wine region that frustrates me more than Lazio (Latium in Latin), an area I know especially well, as it’s where I have spent the majority of my adult life. I say it’s frustrating because, hard as it may be to believe, there is perhaps no other lesser-known wine region in Italy that has more potential for fine winemaking than does Lazio and yet so much of that potential remains unrealized.

Lazio is uniquely suited to viticulture because of its mild climate, rich and varied geological mix of soils (among which volcanic soils are prominent), marine breezes, adequate rainfall, pronounced day-night temperature variation and a plethora of rare, high-quality native grape varieties.