DOC area for white wine in the Italian region of Lazio. The vineyards cover 400 hectares of vines spread over the seven municipalities of Bolsena, Capodimonte, Gradoli, Grotte di Castro, Marta, Montefiascone and San Lorenzo Nuovo in the province of Viterbo. The historic Classico area includes parts of the municipalities of Montefiascone and Bolsena. If the grapes come from classified vineyards, Vigna may be indicated on the label followed by the vineyard name. The unusual name is based on a legend. The Augsburg bishop Johannes Fugger (Joannes de Fuk) was in the retinue of Emperor Henry V (1086-1125) in 1111. A connection to the famous merchant family is uncertain.
A servant of the clergyman tested the quarters and wines of the region for his high lord by travelling from village to village or from inn to inn one day in advance of the retinue. The wines of the localities were rated by him with chalk at the entrance door. With an "Est! - meaning "It is (here)!" - the good ones were marked, and with a double "Est! Est!!" to mark the particularly good ones. In an inn in Montefiascone, he was so enthusiastic about the wine that he marked it with a triple "Est! Est!!! Est!!!". Allegedly, the bishop drank himself to death on the wine. On his tombstone it says: EST! EST!!! EST!!! PPROPTER NIMIUM EST EST HIC JOANNES DE FUK DOMINUS MEUS MORTUS EST (see picture on the right). He is buried in the church of San Flaviano in Montefiascone.
In his honour, the wine festival "Fiera del Vino" is celebrated every year in August in the municipality of Montefiascone, and a bottle of Est! Est!!! Est!!! is poured on his grave. Supposedly, back then the wine was made from a variety of muscatel and was said to be very sweet. Today's white wine is blended from the Procanico variety, a small-grape variety of Trebbiano Toscano (50-65%), as well as Rossetto (25-40%), Malvasia Bianca Lunga and/or Malvasia del Lazio (10-20%), as well as other permitted non-aromatic varieties (max. 15%), and developed in the taste directions secco, abboccato and amabile. It is also produced as a spumante exclusively in secco. The wine is also offered in a Pulcinella bottle as a tourist attraction. Similar in the grape variety blend is the DOC white wine Orvieto.
Picture left: The Wine Raconteur
Picture right: By Ulrich Mayring, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
