Cantine in Festa in Grottaferrata

A wine festival in the heart of the Castelli Romani

Cantine in Festa in Grottaferrata is the food and wine event that, every June, brings local winemakers to Piazza Cavour, the main square of the town of Grottaferrata, in the province of Rome, Lazio. The event is part of the calendar promoted by the Castelli Romani Wine Cities circuit, a network that brings together municipalities in the area dedicated to viticulture and promotes their historic production.

For one evening—or an entire weekend, depending on the edition—the historic center turns into a tasting trail: winery stands, tasting glasses with neck pouches, and producers sharing their craft in person. It is a simple, convivial format, beloved by locals and increasingly popular with Romans heading to the hills for a different kind of evening.

What to drink: wines from Grottaferrata and the Castelli

Grottaferrata lies in the heart of one of the oldest wine-growing areas in Lazio, centered around the Colli Albani and the volcanic soils of the Castelli Romani. The tradition here is primarily white wines, produced from Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes—fresh, vibrant wines that have accompanied the region's popular cuisine for centuries. In recent decades, many wineries have focused on quality, reducing yields and rediscovering local grape varieties, and the festival is the perfect opportunity to experience this evolution directly at the tasting counter.

Alongside the wine, other local excellences take center stage: extra virgin olive oil, cheeses, cured meats, bread, and baked goods from local shops, often paired by the town's restaurateurs.

The festival format

Recent editions have featured a comprehensive program that, according to the official presentation of the Wine Cities circuit, includes:

• guided tours of local wineries, with explanations of winemaking processes;
• tastings of local wines paired with typical products;
• educational workshops designed for both adults and children to discover the world of wine;
• walks through the vineyards, to immerse yourself in the agricultural landscape of the Castelli Romani;
• cultural shows and open-air concerts to liven up the evenings;
• a final collective tasting to close the festival.

It is not just a tasting fair: the approach is one of local wine tourism, where wine serves as a gateway to understanding the landscape, the families who cultivate it, and the agricultural history of a town that considers wine one of its strongest identities.

Grottaferrata, between abbey and vines

Visitors to the festival find much more than just a square with wine stands. Grottaferrata is famous for the Greek Abbey of San Nilo, a monastery founded in 1004 and still inhabited by a Byzantine-rite monastic community: a unique site in Lazio, with its church, museum, and fortified village. The town is also part of the Castelli Romani Regional Park, which offers trails, woods, and panoramic viewpoints just minutes from the center.

The local calendar is rich throughout the year: the historic National Fair of Grottaferrata in March, the Patronal Feast of San Nilo in September, and other food and wine events like Grotta Divina create a cycle that follows the town's seasons.

Why it's worth visiting

Cantine in Festa is a town-scale event, free from the crowds of large fairs: you can taste at your own pace, talk to producers, eat well, and stay in the square until late. It is also one of the most authentic ways to understand what it means to make wine twenty kilometers from Rome today, in an area currently rewriting its oenological reputation. For those visiting the Castelli Romani in June, it is a stop that combines taste, culture, and community atmosphere.