Castelli Romani & Wine

The castelli romani tour from civitavecchia takes you south-east of Rome rather than into it, climbing into a chain of medieval hilltowns built on the rim of an ancient volcanic crater. The crater is now filled by two lakes — Lago Albano and Lago Nemi — and the hills above them are covered in chestnut forest, vineyards and the summer palaces of Roman noble families, later of Renaissance popes. The drive from the port takes about an hour along the Via dei Laghi, and the mood shifts perceptibly as the Roman suburbs fall away and the first vines appear on the hillsides.

The castelli romani wine tour civitavecchia itinerary typically includes Frascati — the best-known wine name in the Castelli, produced here on volcanic soils since the Roman era — and Castel Gandolfo, the former papal summer residence standing directly above Lago Albano with views across the circular crater lake that stop most visitors mid-sentence. Ariccia, for the porchetta that has been produced here since the seventeenth century and carries its own protected designation, provides lunch. The day suits guests who have seen Rome, who prefer good food to famous monuments, or who simply want to be somewhere genuinely beautiful and uncrowded.

Wine, a papal lake and the best roast pork in Lazio

• Frascati DOC wine at source

  Frascati is produced from Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes grown on volcanic soils southeast of Rome — the same mineral character that makes the landscape unusual gives the wine its herbal brightness. A cantina tasting in the town, or a glass with lunch in the main piazza, is a straightforward pleasure.

• Castel Gandolfo — crater rim, papal palace

  The former papal summer residence sits on the rim of the volcanic crater directly above Lago Albano. The view from the terrace — the lake several hundred metres below, perfectly circular, deep blue even in summer — takes five minutes to register and rather longer to forget.

• Ariccia porchetta — a protected tradition

  Ariccia's porchetta — whole pig, seasoned with rosemary, garlic and black pepper, roasted on a spit — is a Denominazione Comunale product. The shops and osterie along the main road have done nothing else for centuries, and it shows.