2016 Agricola di Marcella Giuliani Alagna Passerina del Frusinate IGT 750 ml

Lazio: A Riches to Rags to Riches Story

We haven’t been this excited about an under-$20 Italian white wine for a long, long time. It was in Rome that we first discovered the wines of Marcella Giuliani at our favorite wine bar — the one and only Roscioli. It was there that we had Marcella’s cracking Passerina del Frusinate — grown on her organic farm where her vines are co-planted among four olive tree groves — with a piping hot, black pepper flecked dish of Spaghetti Carbonara. If you haven’t had the wines of Italy’s Lazio region, then there isn’t a better time than right now. Just three months ago, an in-depth, 2,500 word article turned up on Antonio Galloni’s Vinous with the title “The Wines of Lazio: There’s Potential Gold in Those Hills.” In the piece it states that we are “on the brink of rediscovering the true greatness of wines” and that the 2016 vintage “looks to be very promising [in Lazio] having produced white and red wines with above-average perfume,” and we truly couldn’t agree more. We are happy to offer a Wine Access exclusive of the 2016 Marcella Giuliani Passerina del Frusinate “Alagna.” We liked this wine so much that we took the entire U.S. allocation. Just 50 cases at $19.99 per bottle.  

There’s no better bellwether signaling the raise in quality of Lazio than the wines of Marcella Giuliani. Lazio has a 2,000 year tradition of quality viticulture. It’s ancient admirers are a who’s who of famous emperors, authors, philosophers, and popes — all boasting marvelously sculpted busts of themselves in fine art museums throughout Europe. The region went through a down period in the 1960s and 70s because of quantity-driven wine production, but has finally bounced back over the last decade.

Marcella Giuliani’s 100-acre farm is situated on the gentle hills of Ciociare and is only planted with the indigenous varieties of Cesanese and Passerina. The grapes are grown on biodynamic vineyards based on clay and limestone and are aged in large, old oak barrels. The warm 2016 vintage gave high quality fruit and produced berries packed with complexity and concentration. The result is a zesty and fleshy wine, with terrific mineral-precision that will put Lazio back on the fine wine map.