Il Goccetto

Il Goccetto is a wine bar in Rome’s historic centre with a reputation among the city’s sommeliers: it is where they say they go for a glass on their day off. The room sits inside a centuries-old building, its walls lined in dark wood, and shelving rises from the floor right up to the ceiling, crowded with a huge range of labels. For anyone who cares about wine, that collection turns the place into something close to paradise. The mood is calm and feels outside time, with no interest in passing trends.

At Il Goccetto, people who live in Rome suggest leaving the menu aside entirely and not even requesting it. Turn your eyes instead to the blackboard behind the counter, where the day’s selection of wines by the glass is written up, a choice that changes constantly. The board is in a calm room panelled in dark wood, where shelves running from the floor up to the ceiling hold a vast number of labels and where Roman sommeliers like to come for a drink on their own day off.