If You Are Traveling to Rome, Here Are the 8 Wineries You Have to Visit

Almost two million Americans arrive in Rome each year, and while the city itself is a stellar place to drink wine, there’s also a good argument for escaping the tourist bustle for a few days to visit one (or more) of the nearby wine regions.

Surrounding the city is the Lazio region, long a sleepy place known mostly for inexpensive, simple Frascati, but now populated with a burgeoning number of ambitious young winemakers. Umbria, to the north, is home to great Sangiovese-based reds and the classic whites of Orvieto. Abruzzo, an hour and a half drive to the east, sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, is one of Italy’s most exciting wine regions these days, followed closely by Marche to its north.

Here are eight wineries spread across those regions, all with terrific hospitality offerings.

Cirelli, Abruzzo

Azienda Agricula Cirelli, in the town of Atri in Abruzzo, provides an excellent example of how dreams can become reality. After graduating from college in Milan with a degree in economics, Francesco Cirelli decided to pursue agriculture, a passion inherited from his grandfather. At age 23, he bought a parcel of land and started his own farm.

From the beginning, partly thanks to the region’s favorable microclimate, Cirelli has farmed entirely naturally, using no synthetic chemicals whatsoever. With the help of his wife Michela, today he cultivates vineyards, olive groves, and vegetable gardens, raises animals, and produces all the traditional wines of the Abruzzese hills: Trebbiano, Pecorino, Cerasuolo, and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. In the past few years, he’s also added a selection of wines made in amphora. 

Cirelli has also become known for wine tourism. Here, guests can immerse themselves in the beautiful Abruzzo landscapes in alternative ways such as glamping, allowing them to mingle discreet luxury together with direct contact with nature, or “Yoga and Wine,” which includes an outdoor yoga session followed by a visit to the vineyards and cellar.

For those who choose not to glamp, there are two wooden lodges located among vineyards and olive groves, each equipped with private bathrooms, air conditioning, heating, and furnished panoramic terraces with views of the surrounding hills. In the morning, a breakfast made with local products is served, allowing guests to start the day with an authentic, zero-kilometer experience. Also do not miss the “All About Amphora” tasting, which includes a tour of the vineyards and cellar, and tasting of the amphora wines accompanied by a platter of local, zero-mile products.

Wine to try

Cirelli Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Anfora

Rich with citrus notes, this white reflects Francesco Cirelli's focus on seasonality, respect for the region, and, as he often likes to say, a way of being and feeling the Earth.

Tenuta i Fauri, Abruzzo

Chieti, the home of Tenuta i Fauri, is the southernmost province of Abruzzo. Its value for vines and olive trees was discovered in Roman times, and it continues to be an area of great archaeological interest. The name Tenuta I Fauri itself derives from ancient history: Fifteen years ago, excavations in the vineyard brought to light the remains of an early Christian monastery from the Roman era. A plaque in the ruins spoke of the monks who lived here, called “fauri.” 

On these hills, which descend from the Maiella to the Adriatic, making wine is a passion transmitted from one generation to the next. At Tenuta i Fauri, Domenico Di Camillo takes care of the vineyards, while his children Luigi and Valentina work in the cellar and in the market.

They are winemakers both by choice and by tradition, working 86 acres of vineyards in six different municipalities; all small peasant properties, they belonged to grandparents and ancestors, and have been reacquired over the years by the family. To get to know I Fauri, first of all walk among the organically grown vineyards on the Teatro hills, then go down to grandfather Luigi's cellar in Ari, renovated a few years ago.

There the 1960s-era concrete tanks have been carefully preserved and renovated by the family, alongside the steel vats and a few barrels, and tastings here are accompanied by a selection of local products, with particular attention to typicality and seasonality. Then stop at the estate: Baldovino is the family farmhouse, suspended between the end of the nineteenth century and contemporary design, with terraces and a swimming pool looking over the vineyards and hills. (It is also possible to stay overnight in their nearby country house in the San Severino district of Villamagna.)

Wine to try

Tenuta i Fauri Montepulciano d'Abruzzo October Red
This Montepulciano goes only into concrete, where it ages for 9 months, gaining an intriguing depth even as the fruit stays vividly alive. Elegant and deeply characteristic of the region, it’s also a wine that expresses the soul of I Fauri.

Zaccagnini, Abruzzo

Cantina Zaccagnini, founded in 1976 by Marcello Zaccagnini in Bolognano (now owned by the Argea group), farms some 617 acres of vineyards in Abruzzo’s Pescara hills. From those vines, it summons distinctive wines that tell the story both of the region and of Abruzzese wine; not for nothing is it one of the benchmark producers of the region.

Among the rows grow native varieties such as Montepulciano, Trebbiano, Passerina, and Moscato di Castiglione—a rare variety used both in the winery’s sweet, sparkling Aster Moscato and in its passito Plaisir Bianco —along with small plots of Grenache and Pinot Grigio. Everything is farmed sustainably, using organic fertilizers. Legumes grow between the rows to help preserve life in the soil, and 500 oak trees have been planted to help offset CO2 emissions. 

In addition to the quality of its wines, Cantina Zaccagnini is known for the more than 40 contemporary art installations on the property. This program started in 1984, when the cellar hosted the German artist Joseph Beuys for his “Defense of Nature” event. Since then, Zaccagnini, whose philosophy is summed up in the phrase “wine, art of man” has become a destination for both wine lovers and art enthusiasts who come to admire the works of contemporary artists such as Mimmo Paladino, David Bade, and Mauro Berrettini. 

For those visiting Zaccagnini for the first time, the “Classic” tasting is an ideal way to start. Starting with a tour of the cellar, it ends with a tasting of the winery’s Tralcetto Trebbiano, Tralcetto Montepulciano and Tralcetto Cerasuolo d’Abruzzos. The “Il Re Montepulciano”  tasting focuses on the winery’s Tralcetto, Chronicon, and San Clemente Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wines, while “Best in Class” is a journey through five of Zaccagnini’s top wines and the artworks located in the cellar and in the barrel room. For customers keen to enjoy nature, Zaccagnini also offers private tastings in an event space deep in the woods, where the windows overlook the surrounding vineyards.

Wine to try

Zaccagnini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Terre di Casauria Riserva

This intoxicating red is one of Zaccagnini’s most representative wines. Aged for two years before release, its flavors are rich and complex, dominated by wild berry notes.

Lungarotti, Umbria

Plenty of wineries have ridden the wine tourism wave, but there are only a few who helped create it, particularly in areas where it never existed in the past. One of these is Lungarotti, one of the definitive producers in the Torgiano area, and indeed in the entire region of Umbria. 

Lungarotti was founded in the 1960s by the far-sighted Giorgio Lungarotti. A great wine mind, he maintained a strong bond with the countryside while also bringing together a group of small family farms and transforming them into Cantine Giorgio Lungarotti. His work not only revolutionized Umbrian wine, but connected to an agricultural tradition that had never focused on specialization; and it made Torgiano a true enological, touristic, and cultural hub. 

From the outset, Lungarotti focused on Sangiovese (a wink at nearby Tuscany): thus its benchmark red Rubesco was born. That wine is still Lungarotti’s flagship bottling, as well as the leading wine of both the Torgiano DOC and of the Torgiano Rosso Riserva DOCG. In 1974, following a similar entrepreneurial spirit, the Lungarottis started to concentrate on hospitality, first by opening their cellar to tourists then by founding the MUVIT Wine Museum. The cellar tour, with its vault of old vintages, is more than worth the visit on its own. 

Over the course of two decades, other ventures followed: a luxury resort (Le Tre Vaselle, now under external management), the Poggio alle Vigne farmhouse, and in 2000, the year after Giorgio Lungarotti’s death, the MOO, a museum dedicated to the cultivation of olives and the making of olive oil. Long his dream, it was opened by his family in his memory. Since his passing, the company has been run by Giorgio's daughter Chiara, supported by her mother Maria Grazia and her sister Teresa Severini (from her mother's first marriage) — a mostly female team that stands out in the Italian wine scene.

Wine to try

Torgiano Chardonnay Aurente 

Though Lungarotti concentrates on indigenous grape varieties, the winery also makes excellent cuvées from international vines. This Chardonnay, unusually fresh given Umbria’s warm climate, has been since 1999 a testimony to the equal quality of the white wines at a winery primarily known for its reds.

Cantina Sant'Andrea, Lazio

After their farmlands in Tunisia were nationalized during the country's 1964 shift to socialism, the Pandolfo family returned to Italy and rebuilt their fortune in lower Lazio, near Terracina. They planted their first vines in 1968, and today Gabriele Pandolfo and his son Andrea farm 247 acres of Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Aleatico, Cesanese, and Moscato di Terracina (the latter on one of Italy’s only vineyards grown on karst, a lunar-like landscape of broken limestone and marble). Andrea Pandolfo also supervises Cantina Sant’ Andrea’s winemaking. 

The Pandolfos’ perseverance in producing excellent Lazio wines was complemented in 2021 by the opening of their agriturismo Seguire le Botti (or, Follow the Bottle). The project, helmed by Andrea Pandolfo, is a farmhouse inn with five bedrooms and a gourmet restaurant led by Neapolitan chef Pasquale Minciguerra.

Open year round, the restaurant serves dishes that tell the story of the region through the work of local cheesemakers, farmers, breeders, and millers, which chef Minciguerra draws on for his menu, such as black pig loin and bacon served with zucchini alla scapece and cipollini onions in agrodolce. The winery’s own farm products are also a major part of the menu: hen and duck eggs, extra virgin olive oil from the Itrana olive variety, focaccia, and honey (especially good with the homemade bread at breakfast).

Wine to try

Cantina Sant’ Andrea Vermentino 253 Days

First released in 2024, this white pays homage to the city of Sabaudia and, in legend, the number of days it took to build the city. The vineyards’ sandy soil and seaside influence gives this Vermentino savory and mineral notes, reminiscent of a fresh spring day.

Terre di Marfisa, Lazio

As the Italian saying goes, lanciare il cuore oltre l’ostacolo, or, “throw your heart over the obstacle.” That describes the passion in the face of impossibility that the Clarici family had, 15 years ago, when they chose to believe in the potential of Lazio’s deeply undervalued Tuscia Viterbe region.

The inspiration first came from Bruno Clarici, a retired civil engineer (who unfortunately passed away in 2024), and his daughter Nathalie, who at thirty-nine, in the middle of her career and with two young daughters, didn’t think twice about leaving her job and dedicating herself body and soul to the project named after her grandmother Marfisa. Her brother Riccardo and cousin Marco Baroni, a mechanical engineer and an architect, then joined, overseeing the design of the estate. 

Terre di Marfisa started in 2009 with 15 acres of olive groves; afterward came the wine cellar and in 2018 the farmhouses (intended for guests) opened their doors. Today the estate farms a total of 57 acres of crops, of which almost 17 are vines: Sangiovese, Syrah and Vermentino, varieties inspired by nearby Tuscany, as well as small amounts of Petit Verdot and Incrocio Manzoni.

The Podere di Marfisa offers 12 elegant rooms, a swimming pool and a magnificent spa, as well as the Osteria Unicorno restaurant, led by the Campanian chef Luigi Ferrante. And embellishing every corner of the estate are sculptures by local artist Cesare Bozzini, of whom the family is now a patron.

Wine to try

Terre di Marfisa Vermentino Zamathi Iris

This unusual white comes from Vermentino grapes together with 15% Incrocio Manzoni. The two varieties unite the volcanic soils of the Tyrrhenian coast with an uncommon minerality, enriched with Incrocio Manzoni’s exotic citrus notes.