A wine crafted by nuns in Lazio, Monastero Suore’s Cistercensi Coenobium shows the hand of Giampiero Bea, son of the master winemaker Paolo Bea. More unusual than being made by nuns, this white is vinified like a red, so the Trebbiano, Malvasia, and Verdicchio grapes get extended contact with the skins. The resulting wine is unusual, complex, layered and struck with minerality. Expect a dry palate flavored with a heady mélange of apple pie, toasted pecans, honey and citrus. Drinking now, meditatively.
- Country: Italy
- Region: Lazio
- Subregion: Lazio IGT
- Commune/ Village: Agrate Brianza
Much like the whites of Liguria’s Cinque Terre, those of Lazio’s Frascati zone are consumed in vast quantities. The source of this popularity, however, is Rome’s tourist population, a multitude that does not exercise a great deal of discrimination. The producers of Frascati are all too happy to oblige, with a prodigious output that earns Lazio sixth position in the productivity rankings for Italy’s 20 regions. The majority of these bottlings are indistinguishable from one another, essentially constituting a generic mass. It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Indeed, Lazio’s Alban Hills, which comprise Frascati and Lazio’s eight other main DOCs, establish Lazio’s viticultural credentials, given their well-drained, potassium-rich volcanic soils. Moreover, the liberal nature of the Frascati discipline innately provides for the crafting of distinctive wines. For example, a Frascati may derive wholly from Malvasia, a grape that exudes a lovely floral perfume, shifting into a tropical fruit dimension on the palate. Nevertheless, it may also be crafted exclusively from Trebbiano, a fairly neutral white, and producers who privilege quantity continue to cast one of Trebbiano’s many clones in the lead role. There are those, however, who seek to craft wines for a discerning palate, endeavoring to get the most out of Malvasia and Trebbiano, while also involving other grapes.
While this culture is presently dedicated to winning back some of its former rankings, almost inexplicably, it also possesses one of the wine world’s most compelling legacies— the wines of the late Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, the Prince of Venosa. Ludovisi’s wines—a Bianco, Sémillon, and Rosso—are presently under the charge of a select few—three individuals who work to place what remains (of a bequest to the late wine critic Luigi Veronelli) with a proper and highly discriminating audience. Utilizing an early form of organic viticulture and maintaining exceedingly low yields, the prince crafted wines that defy the seeming limits of their constituents.
The wine in question is the subject of another Laziale wine story—one whose protagonists, like the Prince of Venosa, operate outside Lazio’s formulaic treatments. Leaving the royal realm, we enter a sacred one—the convent of Monastero Suore Cistercensi. The nuns belonging to this community craft a wine named Coenobium, which, despite its humble vino da tavola classification, is hardly a modest, pragmatic project. This effort—the sole production of this viticultural community— is overseen by Giampiero Bea, the son of Umbria’s eminent artisanal producer Paolo Bea. Moreover, while the wine features Lazio’s ubiquitous Trebbiano, it also includes two rather unexpected contributors—Verdicchio and Grechetto, the leading whites, respectively, of Le Marche and Umbria (we can surmise how Grechetto landed a role here…); all varieties utilized are cultivated organically.
When producers who are aware of Verdicchio’s late-ripening, productive character approach it accordingly, enabling it to experience a long-ripening season and controlling its yields, the grape delivers a distinctive profile marked by herbs, pine, and a savory quality. Grechetto’s demonstrative aromatics are equaled by its tannic dimension, an endowment that renders it particularly unusual for a white grape. In Coenobium’s production, both these grapes and Trebbiano are macerated on the skins for a lengthy time to maximize their expressiveness. Coenobium—which literally refers to a community of monks—is a concentrated and complex expression that seems not to be of Lazio’s earth, but rather, a wine of divine inspiration.
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