Fontana Candida

Region: Lazio

The Wine House of Fontana Candida, following a long period under family management, became a company in 1958. It has its headquarters on the hill of Fontana Candida, in a hamlet which sprang up in the area where once was erected an impressive Roman villa which possibly belonged to the poet Quintus Orazio Flacco. Near the ancient Roman villa many water pipes arrived, coming from Monte Porzio, the name "Candida" can derive either from a play on the name "Calida" or "Canicha", that is warm, or from the colour of the water.The area is Monteporzio (Mons Portii), birthplace of Marco Porcio Catone The Censor (243-149 B.C.) who, in his "de Agricultura", prove his love for his land and of how the vine was cultivated here since time immemorial: "Plant the vineyard in the best place, in this way following the tradition of the forefathers, so that the grape may, in due course, turn into wine".Fontana Candida is situated at the heart of the Doc area of Frascati, the ancient Agro Tuscolano (the name of which derives from the pre-Roman town of Tusculum) which includes the communes of Grottaferrata, Frascati and Monteporzio Catone, as well as parts of Rome and Montecompatri and which produces the very famous "white wine" beloved and praised by Popes, princes and poets.By tradition, Frascati was sold draught in the inns at the sign of the branch hung onto the outside of the premises, to show the wine was on sale there. However it took the coming of the bottle to bring about the diffusion and enhancement of "the white wine of the Popes" in Italy and throughout the world. In particular, at Fontana Candida, it was a noblewoman, of Piedmontese origin, Giovanna Orta di Torre Uzzone, who, towards the end of the 1950 s, designed and patented the special clear glass bottle with its wide, squat shape, which has finally become the emblem of Frascati Fontana Candida.Thanks to this successful presentation and, above all to the reliable quality of the product, the Wine House became a leading force, both on the domestic market and abroad, so much so that it eventually undertook the acquisition and incorporation, under the Fontana Candida name, of another prestigious cellar, the Vini Valle Vermiglia di Frascati.Fontana Candida is today owned by Gruppo Italiano Vini and is the most important Frascati-producing business.