The enoteca and the early evening.

An enoteca pours what it sells, and in Rome it opens before the kitchens do. Copy Sarah Cicolini's habit and walk in as the doors open, for an aperitivo before dinner, which puts the first glass of the evening a couple of hours ahead of the table. 1 Her first name is Enoteca La Mescita, and she translates it on the way past: "La Mescita, which translates to 'The pouring'." 1

Trimani il Wine Bar makes the case for drinking wine in this city rather than reading about it. Gambero Rosso separates the two businesses on via Cernaia: the shop has been there since 1876 and is among the oldest in Rome, and the wine bar beside it opened in 1991. 6 The markups come off the shop rather than the bar, which is why a Barolo reads cheaper here than across the city. 4 Sarah Cicolini goes for the Langhe: "wines from all over Italy, especially from the Langhe region, a well-known area in Piedmont famous for its rich red wines, Barolo and Barbaresco". 1 Carla runs the food side and Francesco the wine, and the list is organised by taste rather than by region. 4

Natural wine reached Rome's southern quarters early, and Gambero Rosso credits Enoteca La Mescita with being there first: among the first wine shops in the city to bet on natural wine, with an eye on the best organic and biodynamic production. 3 Cicolini's reason for going is the floor rather than the shelf: "Their waiters are highly knowledgeable about wine and usually do a great job selecting one for you." 1 Katie Parla puts the same room first on her Rome wine list and attaches a warning to it in the same breath: seriously do not eat the food there. She sells paid walking tours in Rome, and Gambero Rosso disagrees with her about those plates, calling the kitchen a few good simple things, boards, crostini and a hot dish of the day. 2 3

Go to Enoteca La Mescita in Garbatella for a glass somebody else picks, in the evening and later at the weekend. Trimani il Wine Bar near Piazza della Repubblica for the Langhe and, if you want a plate with it, Cicolini's own order: "their signature braised beef cheek with mashed potatoes". 1 It shuts on Sunday. The depth also turns up inside restaurants: SantoPalato keeps a cellar Time Out counts past eight hundred wines in view of the tables, Armando al Pantheon has Fabiana Gargioli pairing "with a preference for organic labels", and Romanè runs an organic and biodynamic list behind the offal. 7 9 For a cocktail instead, Drink Kong in Monti rebuilds its whole card to a new theme each year, and it has been on The World's 50 Best Bars three years running. 10