Terracina DOC

An aromatic Moscato from the coast south of Rome, made from a grape that grows nowhere else. The denomination is registered as both Terracina and Moscato di Terracina, and the second name is the accurate one.

The Terroir The registered file uses the formula shared across coastal Lazio: flat or gently rolling ground with soils of alternating sandy and sandy-clay levels known as the Duna Antica, and a westerly exposure, giving an airy, luminous environment on soil that drains naturally. The Duna Antica is a fossil dune system buried under the Pontine plain; at Terracina it runs right up against the Monti Ausoni, which drop into the sea at the town.

The History The file reaches for two names: a millenary winegrowing history traceable to the ancient Greek colonies of “Amyclae” and “Anxur”, passing through the Romans, down to our own days. Anxur was the Volscian and then Roman name for Terracina, and the temple of Jupiter Anxur still stands on the cliff above the town — a Republican-era platform of arches visible from far out at sea. Amyclae is the more legendary of the two, a settlement Virgil and Pliny both mention.

The Grape Moscato di Terracina is a distinct biotype, not simply Moscato Bianco grown here. It is more aromatic and more acidic than its parent, with a pronounced sage and citrus-peel character alongside the usual Muscat grape and orange blossom, and it is grown in commercial quantity in this one small zone. The file registers three styles: a dry white, also permitted amabile; an aromatic quality sparkling wine; and a passito.

The Critical Take Dry aromatic whites are difficult — the aromatics promise sweetness the palate then refuses — and dry Moscato di Terracina is one of the few that manages it, because the acidity is high enough to carry the perfume. It is one of the most distinctive white wines in Lazio and almost unknown outside the province of Latina. The sparkling version is the easier introduction; the dry still wine is the serious one.

Coast and Mountain Terracina sits where the Ausoni meet the Tyrrhenian, and the vineyards climb from sand at sea level onto limestone within a couple of kilometres. That compression — dune, clay and rock in the same denomination — is unusual, and it is why the wine has both the weight of a coastal white and the cut of a hillside one.

At the Table The dry wine with fried anchovies, sea urchins, buffalo mozzarella and grilled fish; the passito with almond pastries and blue cheese. Dry at 9–11°C, passito at 10–12°C.

Benchmark Producers Cantina Sant’Andrea, which effectively rescued the grape, and Villa Gianna.