Lorenzo Costantini and his uncle Piero before him created a company in Monteporzio Catone that stands out for its approach and the quality of its Frascati wines.

Piero Costantini was of Marche ancestry and came from a family of winemakers. Together with his brother, he had one of the most renowned wine shops in Rome, and in the early 1980s he wanted to return to his roots, buying an abandoned estate in the municipality of Monteporzio Catone, which was owned by Cardinal Pallotta. The purpose was clear: wanted to give new impetus to the already battered designation and tradition of Frascati. He first replanted the vineyards, adopting cultivation methods that prioritized quality and introducing Malvasia del Lazio (also known as Malvasia Puntinata) as the primary grape variety, at the expense of the more productive but poorer quality varieties: Malvasia di Candia and various Trebbiani.

In 2008 there was a hard-fought auction for the ownership of one of the most prestigious (once) Tuscolan villas in the middle of Frascati; but on that day all the contenders understood from the first moment Piero’s determination and that there would be nothing for them to do.

The property includes, in addition to the historic Villa Falconieri, 5 hectares of mostly tuffaceous, basalt, and volcanic mudflows, abutting the Tuscolo woods, which, in fact, provide significant temperature excursions to those soils. The final acquisition and planting of the vineyard was very laborious; natural and accidental obstacles were compounded by problems related to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, whenever, as a result of discoveries of ancient objects, work had to be stopped and variations made. All work, both bureaucratic and planting work, was supervised by Lorenzo Costantini, grandson of Piero, an expert winemaker, especially in the Castelli Romani area.

For the new planting, structured at 5,000 vines per hectare, only the following was used Malvasia del Lazio, which covers 97% of the plants present; the remaining 3 percent is represented by old Trebbiano plants of various kinds, Greco, Bombino and Bellone, existing on site at the time of purchase and variously bred, as per their history: married vines, sapling, distaff and goat.

Today the entire property is firmly in the hands of Lorenzo Costantini and his family.

In the past five months I have made two visits to the winery; on the first occasion I benefited from a small vertical of labels from the Filonardi Vineyard.

The Filonardi Vineyard is located on a steep hillside in Monte Porzio Catone, whose soil is particularly rich in microelements. In the state archives in Rome we read that “the Filonardi, Roman patricians, had many properties and farmhouses in this area, but at the farmhouse between Massarosa and Torricella, named after Natale Filonardi, the best thirty barrels of wine in the area were produced.” The varieties in the vineyard are Malvasia del Lazio, Malvasia di Candia, Trebbiano and Greco. After fermentation, the wine ages on the lees in stainless steel for 6 months, followed by at least another 6 months in the bottle. It is marketed from November 1 of the year following the harvest. Since 2016, the wine bears the mention “Riserva” intended only for Frascati Superiore Docg wines that exceed one year of aging.

On the second occasion, Lorenzo Costantini wanted us to take part in the commercial debut of the company’s new creature, the Falconieri Villa 2020 (which our
Essential Guide to the Wines of Italy 2024
offered as an absolute preview), accompanied on the occasion by two exceptional bridesmaids: the 2019 vintage, which is part of the winery’s history and never released to the market, while, the 2021 vintage is still being aged in the winery’s dungeons.

Half of the wine matures in oak barrels and the remainder matures in acacia barrels and stays on the lees for about 9 months. Bottle aging takes place in caves and lasts at least 24 months.