Sit down at any trattoria in Trastevere and the white wine poured probably will be a generic Frascati from the hills outside Rome. Usually it's a simple, quaffable wine, often just barely drinkable. It's a summer night in the heart of Rome, and nobody's paying much attention to the wine.
Here's a Frascati, though, that warrants a second sip. Made from a blend of 65% Malvasia with just 15% Trebbiano and 20% of the local dark grape Bellone, the De' Notari' Frascati Superiore from Cantine San Marco takes Frascati to a whole new level. Ripe and full in the mouth, the 2004 has a perfume of melon, pear and citrus, and finishes dry and refreshing. The beauty is that at about $10 a bottle, you can keep pouring this straw-colored white for the rest of the summer.
