Today is my last full day in Rome, so it seemed appropriate to share a few notes on the wines of Paolo e Noemia d'Amico, whose vineyards lie just 90 minutes north of The Eternal City. I actually tasted these wines back in New York City, where I had tasted them on several other occasions. (See some of my previous notes here.) The wines are vibrant and table-centric, and the pair of Chardonnays - in particular - seem to thrive in their volcanic soils. 

The duo's range includes five whites and four reds sourced from their property edged by extinct volcanos. The vineyard soils are tufa, as are the cellars. The surrounding area is called Civita di Bagnoregio. It is now on the UNESCO World Heritage "Tentative List", being studied for a posisble full World Heritage designation. Paolo and Noemia, engaging in their second career together - this time in winemaking, began planting their vines here in 1985.

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d'Amico 2017 Chardonnay Calanchi di Vaiano Lazio 14% $28
Pronounced "kah-lan-key", which translates as "badlands", this wine offers brilliant balance, spot-on Chardonnay typicity and good value-for-money via its layered complexity. It tastes of succulent baked apples topped with a light cream, and its texture is silky and rounded. Made in tandem with the Falesia since the first vintage, the this is the more ample of the two. Yet, while more supple in structure, this wine saw nothing but stainless steel then was bottled early. 

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d'Amico 2017 Chardonnay Falesia Lazio 14% $33
The fruits of these vines sit on a fault line, or falesia. While this wine sees first, second and third use barrels, it is so integrated that its barrel-derived characters aren't a focus. Rather, what was more prominent was the wine's buoyant freshness, lovely concentration and layers of nectarine skin, apricot flesh and persimmon. As with the Calanchi Chardonnay, I did not notice the 14% alcohol in the wines. The balance of both is seamless. The minerally tug on the medium finish gives this a bravado that, understandably, might alarm Burgundians. 

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d'Amico 2014 Cabernet Franc Atlante Umbria 13% $74
A Cabernet Franc fan, I was full of expectations when tasting this wine. Moreover, I recalled liking it previously, too (see the above link). While I found it attractive, it seemed to be fading at only five years old. Smelling attractively of fallen autumn leaves with drying forest berries, I wished that I could have tasted it at least a year earlier. It seemed to be fading just a bit. Its gruff tannins and scratchy acidity only emphasized its angularity. However, there was a graciously long finish. Maybe this Atlante is a bit awkward now and with time, given its hale structure, it might prove even more fascinating?