This wine is called after the city of Tarquinia, along the Tyrrhenian coast north of Rome, home to the legendary Etruscan boy, Tagete.

Etruscan Tarquinia, a powerful and important city, was situated on the Civita hill. But after its destruction, the new city’s was built on a hill opposite the ancient city, where it still stands today.

In the Middle Ages, Tarquinia went through a major revival. The city was adorned with beautiful new towers and elegant Romanesque churches, and a massive wall was built around it.

Tarquinia D.O.C. is one of those few Italian appellations that cover a territory that goes well beyond that of the city from which it borrows its name. This wine, in fact, is produced in a very wide area between the provinces of Rome and Viterbo. Along the Tyrrhenian cost, it goes from Montalto di Castro to Fiumicino, and inland, it reaches the Monti Cimini to the northeast and the Monti della Tolfa to the northwest.

Three traditional wines are included in this appellation: a red and a rosé made with Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Cesanese grapes, and a white made by mixing traditional Latium grapes with Trebbiano Toscano (known here as Procanico), Trebbiano Giallo, Malvasia di Candia and Malvasia del Lazio.

Although established in 1996, Tarquinia D.O.C. is a very traditional wine. The D.O.C. regulation for this wine leaves no room for innovation (suffice it to say that the use of Pinot Grigio, for example, is specifically prohibited). The only exceptions to tradition allowed here are a Novello red and a Frizzante (semi-sparkling) white.