"By a happy coincidence that will have delighted Gabriele and Andrea Pandolfo, the first year of the DOC for Moscato di Terracina, 2007, coincided with a fantastic harvest, which in turn led to the greatest Oppidum of all time.

This marvel leapt into the finals with its varietal cleanliness, delightful aromatics, savoury, intense palate and long, clean finish.

The same sensations can be found in the dry spumante version of Oppidum and indeed in the two versions of Moscato di Terracina Amabile Templum '07, which are simpler but pleasant, both the still and the spumante.

The standard-bearer for the Circeo DOC is the Sogno '05. Fruit and oak on the one hand and alcohol and extract on hte other combine in a higlhy successful balance.

We continue to believe in Circeo Dune, and in the idea of marrying malvasia and small wood, even if we found the '06 version at the tasting less balanced than in previous years.

The rest of the range is very clean and well managed. Don't miss Capitolium '06, whose aromatic intensity is as controlled and deftly handled as ever."

Gambero Rosso/Vini d'Italia (2009)

MSNBC TODAY:

"I tasted three wines from
Cantina
Sant'Andrea, a winery in Lazio in central Italy.

While the region, which includes Rome, is best known for light and often-innocuous whites such as Frascati and Est! Est!! Est!!!, Sant’ Andrea, which is in southwest Lazio close to the Mediterranean Sea, shows what’s possible with the native malvasia, trebbiano and other grapes, as well as with Lazio’s red varieties.

Read the whole story >>>

IAN D'AGATA:

"Readers may want to pay special attention to the wonderful wines made here; this is one of the best estates in Italy for high quality wines at exceptional prices.

It all started with Andrea Pandolfo, the great-grandfather of the current owner, who made wine in Sicily in the mid-1800s. You might say that aromatic grape varieties have always been this family's destiny.

Back then, it was the muscat of Alexandria; today it's the moscato di Terracina, a specific variant of moscato bianco (white muscat) that has adapated admirably well over time to the unique seaside vineyards of the beatiful Circeo area of southern Lazio.

There are three versions of this wine: the off-dry "Templum"; the sticky-sweet "Capitolium"; and my personal preference, the dry "Oppidum" - a remarably light, enjoyable, balanced wine.

It's simply a delectable wine.

I think you'll enjoy its rose petal and grapefruit aromas, and the delicate saltiness and zesty lemon-lime accents that soar out of the glass like a fresh sea breeze. In the mouth it is decidedly dry, with enough acidity to keep it light, lively, and deceptively long, while nicely framing peach, grapefruit, and white pepper flavors.

An unbelievably good wine for a price that is almost ridiculously low."

(Guide to the best Wines of Italy
by Ian D'Agata, 2008)

FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE

Rome

"Italy: F&W’s executive wine editor Ray Isle just returned from his own epic eating and drinking adventure in and around Rome. You can read about it in the October 2010 issue."

(Food & Wine, October 2010; not available yet)


10 Great Wine (& Spirit) Gift Ideas

9. Wine from Italy's Lazio region

"I had the interesting pleasure of running a tasting recently of wines from Lazio, the region that surrounds Rome and is bordered by Umbria and Tuscany to the north.

Lazio tends to get overlooked, because the vast majority of the wine it produces is utterly forgettable white Frascati that flows in a vast river into the glasses of Rome's countless trattorias.

But there's a hidden realm of ambitious small producers in the region, making some fantastic wine.

I'm particularly fond of the in-your-face fragrant Cantina Sant'Andrea Oppidum, a dry Muscat that smells like a fistful of flowers and tastes of citrus fruit with a nut-skin edge."

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