Tarquinia's Etruscan Tombs and Vino Locale

Day four of our wine cruise: we docked in Civitavecchia, the port for access to Rome, but instead of enduring a 3+ hour roundtrip ride into "la bella cita", we took the local bus to Tarquinia which is a half hour to the north. Tarquinia is a UNESCO World Heritage site with the second most important Etruscan museum in the country and many excavated and restored Etruscan tombs. Hundreds of tomb mounds dot the Monterozzi hill. To protect the restored tombs, "casetas"--little slanted, tile roof buildings--have been built over them. Their walls and ceilings are brightly painted with murals that are 2700 years old. It was amazing to see the intricacy of the Etruscan art--paintings, sculpture, and glass and gold ornaments and to walk the cobbled streets of the medieval section of the little town.

We tried the "vino locale" (local wine) at a cafe--a crisp, aromatic white (70% Chardonnay, 30% Trebbiano) from Tenuta Sant'Isidoro. Tarquinia is in the Lazio region where most wine is white, made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes. They contain a lot of potassium from the volcanic soil, so minerality is pronounced. Cool ocean breezes bring an elevated level of acidity.