A fixture of the dining table, the perfect end to a long day, a way to come together and celebrate, rant, or pontificate about the big and small things in life: for Italians, wine is a lot more than just a drink. It’s part of our identity, the holder of our woes and glories. Which explains the many, many enoteche that dot our cities, and the fact that a glass of vino is our second most popular choice after the Spritz come aperitivo time. Even more popular these days? Natural wines. “People think natural wine is a fairly recent thing,” Flaviano Pizzoli of wine bar L’Antidoto clarifies, “But natural wine is actually the traditional way to make wine. It’s what my grandpa used to make, and the wine I have grown up with. It’s the other wine, conventional wine, that’s actually new.”

Made from organic grapes or the equivalent—grapes grown without pesticides, herbicides, or other chemicals–and fermented and aged without additives, these low-intervention libations have become increasingly sought-after over the past few years, and for good reason: they’re surprising, often unique, energetic, and highly vibrant. Think of them as the cool, unpretentious cousins of all the trophy Barolos or bold Brunellos out there. No wonder we’ve fallen so hard for them.  

Below are 10 of the most notable places in Rome to find superlative bottles of the “natty” stuff. Visit, try their tipples, and be prepared to go home with a bottle or two. But most importantly, embrace their ethos: fiercely independent and always welcoming, these are meeting spots for like-minded people, where gregariousness shines, authenticity reigns supreme, and sharing is encouraged—whether it’s a bottle of unfiltered Beaujolais or tips on your favorite new restaurant in town. 

L’Antidoto – Ask owner Flaviano Pizzoli what L’Antidoto is all about, and he’ll tell you that the tiny enoteca on Vicolo del Bologna is first and foremost a “convivial space.” Indeed, the unpretentious bar feels like a friendly, unfussy hangout, where the selection of natural wines is strong—and mostly from lesser-known vineyards around Europe—the rustic-modern design on point, and the conversation flows just as much as the drinks do. From the small kitchen, fresh, seasonal–and beautifully untraditional–small plates will help you soak it all up. Here, the food is designed to complement the drinks, not the other way round.

Wine, Flaviano says, “brings people together, and when it’s natural, it bucks conventions. Just like all good antidotes do.”

Circoletto – Near the Circus Maximus, this wine bar/gastropub is the sister restaurant to Trecca, and is run with just as much care. Natural wines, artisanal beers, and fantastic street food dishes fittingly make this spot a circus of food, fun, and great ambience that spills out into the street. Come for one of their regular sidewalk parties to soak up Circoletto’s atmosphere at its most fun and chaotic.  

Enoteca S02 – Enoteca S02 has been around since 2018, after its parent company, Distribuzione S02—a pioneer for natural wine distribution in Europe—decided to turn the premises next to its warehouse offices into a tasting room and wine bar. What a great idea that was: today, the place is a neighborhood favorite that stands apart not just for its wide selection of natural bottles, but also for the no-nonsense decor, very good prices, and delightfully low-key atmosphere (paired with delightfully good cold cut platters). 

As for the name: S02 is the most common chemical compound used in winemaking, to inhibit the growth of bacteria and wild yeasts. Naming the enoteca after the compound “is essentially a provocation, to highlight the fact that our wines don’t feature S02 at all,” co-founder Alfonso Scarpato says with a laugh. 

NaturaVino – Post up at a table of NaturaVino, a natural enoteca that opened in 2015 in the Marconi neighborhood, and you’ll immediately feel as if you’ve entered a friend’s living room. The space is welcoming and relaxed, thanks to super friendly and highly knowledgeable owner Massimo Ambra, and clearly frequented by regulars. “The whole natural wine world is fascinating: not just the bottles, but the winemakers and their stories too. Here, I try to share them with anyone who comes through the door,” he explains. With an impressive wall display of reds and whites, this is a natural wine enthusiast’s heaven, and somewhere where the music is just the right amount of loud.

Da Corrado al Banco 18 – For anyone who loves good wine and knows Testaccio Market, Da Corrado al Banco 18 is a bit of an institution. The place itself is as simple as it gets: a handful of seats around a banco, a small display of cheeses—rigorously raw and unpasteurized, because “that’s how they’re meant to be enjoyed,” owner Corrado Giampietro says—a board listing the day’s menu, a slew of wine bottles on the shelves. To the side, a tiny busy kitchen, where they like to shake things up with new items every other day or week, depending on seasonality, fresh produce, and their own whims.

Since 2019, the stall has been making what it calls “la cucina ritrovata”—forgotten recipes from the Italian tradition—and serving “vini del dissenso”: wines that tell the story of territory, of small vineyards, and of the people who tend to them without the use of pesticides, chemicals, or additives. “We’re not reinventing the wheel: we’re just paying tribute to the heritage that’s made us,” Giampietro asserts. It’s not your regular enoteca, but its mission makes it just as, if not more, special than your typical wine bar. 

Latteria – As cozy on the inside as it is charming on the outside; warm wood booths lead out to a twinkle-light laden terrace on a cobbled side street in Trastevere. Latteria pours bottles of natural wine alongside plates of charcuterie, cheese, crostini, and rotating hot dishes like lasagna with pistachio pesto and grilled octopus, always with ingredients carefully sourced from the country’s small-scale producers. 

Solovino – Owner Lorenzo is like an encyclopedia for natural wine, and you can feel the passion he pours into every bottle that he sells. Last winter, he expanded his small but well-stocked bottle shop by opening an adjacent wine bar in the space next door. He now hosts natural winemakers for tastings, pours an always-changing selection of wines by the glass (and by the bottle!), along with veg-focussed snacks and small plates. For sake lovers, you can also find bottles of natural sake here that are hard to come by anywhere else in the city. 

Fischio – Always lively, always hard to find a seat, Fischio attracts a cool crowd to a parking lot near Cipro. The outdoor-only spot pours bottles of natural wine, house-canned cocktails, and funky artisanal beers from a kiosk plastered with stickers from other local haunts and grassroots projects by friends and locals. They also happen to sling a mean espresso. 

RetroBottega – This hip, upscale dining spot, led by Chef Alessandro, features communal tables, a dizzying natural wine list of mostly small producers, and a punchy, seasonal tasting menu that highlights the vegetables, herbs, and fungi the chefs foraged that day. Though you can also order a meat-based menu, the vegetarian tasting menu is a welcome change from the pecorino and guanciale of Rome’s traditional pastas.

L’Angolo Divino – A stone’s throw from Piazza della Quercia behind Campo de’ Fiori, this quaint, charming enoteca in a 19th-century building has been a point of reference for excellent wines for the past 50 years. Here, owner Massimo Crippa is not just a sommelier and winemaker, but a self-proclaimed “innkeeper” of the wine. His shelves overflow with bottles of all colors from a variety of prestigious, emerging, local, organic, and foreign wineries. If you’re feeling snacky, order something off the small food menu, specifically designed to accompany the wines, not vice versa.