Geography & Climate
Lazio (Latin Latium, also sometimes used in English), is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west.

Latium is bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its coast is low-lying and very sandy, punctuated by the headlands of Circeo (541 m) and Orlando (171 m). The Pontine Islands, which are part of Latium, lie opposite the southern coast. Behind the coastal strip, to the North we find: the Latium Maremma (the continuation of Tuscan Maremma), interrupted at Civitavecchia by the Tolfa Mountains (616 m), in the centre by the Roman Campagna and to the South by Agro Pontino. This area, once swampy and unhealthy, was reclaimed over the centuries (though work was finished only in the 1930's) for repopulation and agricultural exploitation.

The Latium Preapennines, marked by the Tiber valley and the Liri with the Sacco tributary, includes on the right of the Tiber, three groups of mountains of volcanic origin: the Volsini, Cimini and Sabatini, whose principal craters are occupied by the Bolsena, Vico and Bracciano lakes. To the South of the Tiber other mountain groups form part of the Preapennines: the Alban Hills, also of volcanic origin, and the calcareous Lepini, Ausoni and Aurunci Mountains. The Latium Apennines are part of the Abruzzo Apennines: the Reatini Mountains with Terminillo (2,213 m), Mounts Sabini, Prenestini, Simbruini and Ernici which continue East of the Liri into the Mainarde Mountains. The highest peak is Gorzano Mount (2,458 m) on the border with Abruzzo [source: Wikipedia].

Wines
Grape growing and wine making were well known to the Romans who produced excellent wines since Imperial times. The whites are the predominant variety --- out of 25 DOC wines produced in the region, 20 are white.

Mostly Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes and, in lesser quantity, Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay and Voigner among the white and Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot, Cesanese, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese and Montepulciano, ripen along the volcanic slopes of the Colli Albani and other areas with soil rich in phosphorous and potassium salts.

Notwithstanding the sexy pleasure derived by sitting at a Roman trattoria on some narrow Trastevere lane or one of the many evocative Roman squares twirling spaghetti alla puttanesca or toying with ossobuco alla romana, washing it down with white Castelli Romani (Roman Castles) wine typically served in caraffa (carafe), we must say that there's more to the scenery than the wine itself.

Unlike most wines in Italy, the quality of wine in Latium appears to have somewhat declined, the reason being that Rome itself represents a huge market that require low-cost wine. That said, we still advise our readers to sit down at any of those trattorie, soak in the sun while drinking chilled Frascati or whatever the house wine will be. In this case, the scene abundantly complements the food and wine and your memory of it will be a pleasant and long-lasting one [source: Wine Country].

Wine Country. "Latium: In Rome's Shadow" (accessed 10/07/2009)
http://winecountry.it/regions/lazio

"Lazio." Wikipedia (accessed 10/07/2009)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazio