Rome is a guest-change port more than a cruising destination. Yachts come in so that owners and charter parties can fly into Fiumicino and be aboard within the hour, and the berths that matter are Porto Turistico di Roma at Ostia, close to the airport, and Porto Riva di Traiano up at Civitavecchia. Gaeta, further south, is the quieter alternative with a long naval and yachting history.

A guest change is exactly when the cellar has to be right, and exactly when nobody has time to sort it out. We would rather deliver two days before the new party arrives than on the morning, and we plan backward from the arrival date. Orders ship from our French cellar on EU logistics — no customs frontier, paperwork handled — typically two to three working days from confirmation.

This coast is also the natural staging point between the Tuscan archipelago and the Bay of Naples, and yachts crossing to Sardinia often leave from Civitavecchia. If the itinerary runs on to Ponza, the Pontine islands or the Amalfi coast, this is the last easy full restock before the cruising gets serious, and we would size the delivery for the leg rather than the night.

Lazio is not a famous wine region and that is a reason to explore it rather than ignore it: Frascati has improved out of recognition, and the volcanic whites north of the city are excellent with the kind of food a chef buys at Testaccio. We stock them beside the classics, with over 1,500 lines openly priced online and a tasting note on every one.