2004 Cantine San Marco Frascati Superiore De’ Notari’, Italy

Sit down at any trattoria in Trastevere and the white wine poured probably will be a generic Frascati from the hills outside Rome. Usually it’s a simple, quaffable wine, often just barely drinkable. It’s a summer night in the heart of Rome, and nobody’s paying much attention to the wine.

Here’s a Frascati, though, that warrants a second sip. Made from a blend of 65% Malvasia with just 15% Trebbiano and 20% of the local dark grape Bellone, the De’ Notari’ Frascati Superiore from Cantine San Marco takes Frascati to a whole new level. Ripe and full in the mouth, the 2004 has a perfume of melon, pear and citrus, and finishes dry and refreshing. The beauty is that at about $10 a bottle, you can keep pouring this straw-colored white for the rest of the summer.

Chill it down and drink it with seafood pastas, cold soups, grilled fish and seafood.

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Quick swirl

Region: Castelli Romani

Price: About $10

Style: Ripe and refreshing

Food it goes with: Seafood

Where you find it: Mission Wines in South Pasadena, (626) 403-9463; Silverlake Wine in Los Angeles, (323) 662-9024; Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, (949) 650-8463

-- S. Irene Virbila