Bianco Capena DOC

A white-wine denomination north of Rome, on the hills between the Tiber valley and the Sabatini volcanic complex. It covers the whole commune of Capena and parts of Fiano Romano, Morlupo and Castelnuovo di Porto, and it was recognised on 19 May 1975.

The Terroir The registered file describes a gently hilly orography with soils of volcanic origin derived from both tuffaceous-ignimbritic and lava deposits, and a westerly exposure; together these produce an airy, luminous environment on soil that drains naturally and is particularly suited to the vine. The volcanic material comes from the Sabatini complex, whose collapsed crater now holds Lake Bracciano — the same geological family as the Alban hills on the far side of Rome, and the reason both make white wine rather than red.

The History Viticulture here was begun by the Etruscans, the file says, and has held the role of principal crop through the centuries, as attested by the Statutes of Castelnuovo promulgated in 1548. Capena was a Faliscan and later Roman town, and the sanctuary of the goddess Feronia at Lucus Feroniae, a few kilometres away, was one of the important market shrines of central Italy — a place where produce was traded under religious protection.

Grape Varieties The blend is prescribed with unusual precision: Malvasia — di Candia, del Lazio and Bianca Lunga together — to a maximum of 55 per cent; Trebbiano, Toscano and Giallo, at a minimum of 25 per cent; and Bellone and Bombino Bianco, known locally as uva di Spagna, to a maximum of 20 per cent. A Superiore is permitted at higher alcohol.

The Critical Take Bianco Capena has been through exactly what Frascati went through, and has not yet come out the other side. The denomination stalled badly after the closure of the local cooperative, the Cantina Sociale Feronia, and new plantings and new companies have not restored its old standing. What the recovery depends on is the same thing it depends on everywhere in Lazio: whether the Malvasia in the bottle is del Lazio, which has structure and apricot, or di Candia, which has volume and nothing else. Bellone is the other reason for optimism — a genuinely good Lazio white grape now being taken seriously along the coast.

The Sagra dell’Uva Capena has held a grape festival since 1927, which is early for such a thing and a fair measure of how central the crop was to the town. It still runs, and it is the one moment in the year when the denomination has an audience.

At the Table Roman country cooking of the Tiber valley: fried artichokes, porchetta, cacio e pepe, freshwater fish, and young sheep’s cheeses. Serve at 10–12°C and drink the current vintage.

Benchmark Producers Agro Capenate at Capena. The denomination is very small and has no second name of note.