- 4 milks Sheep, goat, cow, buffalo
- 8 cheeses On the longest flight
- 10–15°C Where the wheels mature
- 36 months Age of the Parmigiano
- 30 years Age of the balsamic
Why a Cheese Tasting in the Testaccio Cave Beats a Cheese Plate in a Wine Bar
Rare Lazio cheeses from the room where they age, two glasses to go with them — and when to let the wine lead instead.
If cheese is the reason you are booking, start in Testaccio, where Taste’Accio runs what it calls Europe’s first urban cheese-maturing cave inside Monte Testaccio. The tasting we recommend first is a cheese-first hour, not a wine lesson: you visit the ageing cave, then work through rare cheeses and cured meats from small Lazio producers with two glasses of Lazio wine chosen to match them. The products are ones you will not find in supermarkets or tourist restaurants, and you can buy what you liked at a discount on the way out. It is a short walk from Piramide metro. If you care more about the wine than the cheese, book a wine-first tasting with a board alongside — four Lazio wines in the same cave, or prosecco and Italian reds in the Fabullus cistern. And if a glass of wine and some pecorino is all you want, a Roman wine bar will serve that for less.
Highlights
- A visit to the urban cheese-maturing cave, where wheels age behind glass at 10–15°C
- Rare cheeses and cured meats from small producers in Lazio, not supermarket stock
- Two glasses of Lazio wine, paired to the board
- Art exhibitions by emerging Roman artists along the cave walls
- One hour at DOL – Taste’Accio, Via di Monte Testaccio 91/93
What's Included
- A guided visit to the ageing cave
- Four or five rare cheeses and four or five cured meats, by the listing’s own count
- Two glasses of Lazio wine
- A 10% discount on Taste’Accio’s products on the day of the tasting
- Not included: the products you choose to buy afterwards
Check Availability & Prices
Pick a date and time below. Instant confirmation, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
The Testaccio Cheese Tasting, Step by Step: 1 Cave, 2 Glasses, Up to 10 Cheeses and Meats
From the red building on Via di Monte Testaccio to the maturing cave and back to the shop counter — how the hour runs.
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Look for the red building
You meet at the main entrance of DOL – Taste’Accio, Via di Monte Testaccio 91/93. Walk along the street past the Flavio restaurant and Caffè Latino; the venue is the red building with a dark door. Piramide is the nearest metro stop.
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Visit the maturing cave
The tasting starts in the cave itself, cut into Monte Testaccio — the hill built from an estimated 53 million broken Roman amphorae. The operator says the temperature holds at 10–15°C all year, which is why cheeses age here, and fragments of the ancient jars show in the walls.
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Taste the cheeses and cured meats
The board carries rare cheeses and artisanal cured meats from small Lazio producers — the listing says four or five of each in different places. Expect more than one kind of milk; Taste’Accio’s own cheese flight covers sheep, goat, cow and buffalo. The host tells you who made each one and how.
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Pair two glasses of Lazio wine
Two glasses of wine from Lazio are poured alongside, chosen for the board rather than as a flight to study. That is the trade-off of a cheese-first tasting: fewer wines, more time on what is on the plate. Periodic exhibitions by emerging Roman artists hang around you as you eat.
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Shop with 10% off, then head out
After about an hour you can buy cheeses, charcuterie, wines, oils, legumes, spirits and amatriciana or carbonara kits with a 10% discount that day. Testaccio’s trattorie are on the doorstep if the board has only sharpened your appetite.
What a Rome Wine and Cheese Tasting Looks Like
Cave-aged Lazio wheels, Pecorino Romano, Slow Food boards and 30-year balsamic. Scroll or drag to browse.
Choosing a Wine and Cheese Tasting: Cheese-First, Wine-First, Mostly Food or Dinner
Testaccio, Trastevere and the Pantheon — which format puts the weight where you want it.
One or two glasses, a lot of cheese
The two Testaccio cheese tastings put the cheese in charge: two glasses with four or five cheeses and as many cured meats, or one glass with eight Lazio cheeses from four milks. Best if you want to learn who makes the cheese and how it ages, and you are happy with a modest pour.
Three to five wines, cheese alongside
The four-wine Testaccio cave tasting and the Fabullus cellar in Trastevere lead with the wine and use the board to show how each glass changes with food. Fabullus adds buffalo mozzarella and ricotta to its Slow Food board. Best if you want to taste more wine without losing the cheese.
Two wines, ten products and a gelato
Cooking Italy’s Trastevere pairing pours two wines beside ten products, including Asiago, buffalo mozzarella, pesto Genovese and 30-year balsamic, then walks you to gelato. It is the cheapest well-reviewed option and a good snack crawl, but count it as a food tasting rather than a wine one.
A chef’s three courses and four wines
Gourmetaly’s wine and dine near the Pantheon serves a seasonal three-course meal with prosecco, two more wines and a digestif, for ten guests at most. It costs more than three times a cheese tasting and replaces dinner. Best for a special evening when you do not want to book a restaurant as well.
Rome Wine and Cheese Tastings Compared: What Leads, What Is Poured, What Is Served
Taste’Accio in Testaccio, Fabullus and Cooking Italy in Trastevere, Gourmetaly by the Pantheon — cheese-first, wine-first, mostly food and dinner.
| Tasting | Leads with | Wine | Cheese and food | Length | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDO wines, cheeses and cured meats Taste’Accio, Testaccio |
Cheese | 2 glasses of Lazio wine | 4–5 rare cheeses, 4–5 cured meats, cave visit | 1 h | $45 |
| Gourmet cheese tasting with wine Taste’Accio, Testaccio |
Cheese | 1 glass of local wine | 8 Lazio cheeses from 4 milks, Roman-style pizza, pickles | 1 h | $47 |
| Underground cave wine tasting Taste’Accio, Testaccio |
Wine | 4 Lazio wines | Cured meat and cave-aged cheese board | 1 h | $60 |
| Food tasting with wine pairing Cantina Fabullus, Trastevere |
Wine | Prosecco + 2–4 wines, by option | Slow Food cheeses, buffalo mozzarella and ricotta, cured meats | ~75 min | $65 |
| Fine wine tasting & food pairing Cooking Italy |
Wine and food equally | Italian wines, top-ups offered | Cheeses, cured meats, truffles, 30-year balsamic | 2–4 h | $55 |
| Wine tasting with food pairing and gelato Cooking Italy, Trastevere |
Food | 2 wines | 10 products incl. Asiago and buffalo mozzarella, then gelato | 1.5–3.5 h | $36 |
| Gourmet wine and dine Gourmetaly, near the Pantheon |
Dinner | 4 wines incl. prosecco and a digestif | Chef’s seasonal three-course meal | 2.5 h | $162 |
Short version: book the Testaccio cheese and cured meat tasting if the cheese is the point; the four-wine cave tasting or Fabullus if the wine is; the wine and dine if you want the pairing to be dinner. The eight-cheese flight has only 3 reviews so far, none of them in English. Prices are the per-person “from” figures GetYourGuide showed on 15 October 2026 and change with the option and date.
What Guests Say About Rome’s Wine and Cheese Tastings
Two verbatim reviews of the Testaccio cheese tasting, and two from the wine-first pairings on this page, labelled.
“Perfect! Everything was super delicious! The owners and staff are really really friendly and fun! Wines are amazing taste! Thank you for the team! We had great time!”GetYourGuide traveler · Netherlands · April 2026
“Wonderful and unique experience with friendly staff”Colleen · Canada · October 2025
“Absolutely brilliant experience! The wines were delicious, especially the sparkling and the red. The selection of meats and cheeses were utterly divine and of outstanding quality. Such an atmospheric venue with such friendly and knowledgeable people. Highly recommended!”Charlotte · United Kingdom · May 2026 · on the Testaccio cave wine tasting
“It was very well put together, the hosts were excellent at explaining the wines and giving us the perfect accompaniment. Such a great experience”GetYourGuide traveler · United Kingdom · August 2025 · on the fine wine tasting & food pairing
Reviews are quoted verbatim from GetYourGuide. The cheese tasting has only a few English reviews, so two cards come from other tastings and say so. Its rating reflects 31 verified reviews as of October 2026. We earn a commission if you book through the links on this page, which does not change your price.
Other Wine and Cheese Tastings: Eight Cheeses, Four Wines, Truffles or a Food Walk
Three seated pairings and one walking food tour that pours wine — pick by how much cheese, how much wine and how much of the evening you want to give it.
Cheese flight · Testaccio
Eight Lazio cheeses from four milks, one glass of wine
A one-hour cheese tasting in the same underground cellar: eight rare, artisanal Lazio cheeses made from sheep, goat, cow and buffalo milk, with pickled vegetables, crispy Roman-style pizza and a glass of local wine. Younger guests (6–17) get a soft drink. Few reviews so far.
Choose this if cheese is the whole point and one glass of wine is plenty.
★ 4.6 · 3 reviews · From $47 · Slow Travel Check dates & prices
Wine-first cave tasting · Testaccio
Four Lazio wines with a cave-aged board
The same cave with the balance reversed: four regional wines — reviewers list sparkling, white, rosé and red — with a board of cured meat and cheese aged on site. One hour, ten guests at most.
Choose this if you want the cave and its cheese, but twice the wine.
★ 4.7 · 58 reviews · From $60 · Slow Travel Check dates & prices
Seated pairing · central Rome
Parmigiano, truffles and 30-year balsamic, with top-ups
Cooking Italy’s fine wine tasting pairs Italian wines with Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36 months, balsamic from Reggio Emilia aged 30 years, Prosciutto di Parma and cream of Parmigiano with truffle. Glasses are topped up, and a dinner option stretches it to four hours.
Choose this if you want northern Italian classics and a pairing that can become dinner.
★ 4.9 · 78 reviews · From $55 · Cooking Italy Check dates & prices
Food walk with wine · Trastevere
Twenty tastings at four venues, wine at every stop
A four-hour walking food tour of Trastevere with truffles, 30-year balsamic, Cinta Senese, cheeses and cured meats, pasta and gelato, and free-flowing wine paired at each venue. This is a food tour that includes wine, and it replaces dinner.
Choose this if you would rather walk and eat for an evening than sit with one board.
★ 4.9 · 1,700+ reviews · From $87 · Cooking Italy Check dates & pricesKnow Before You Go: The Cheeses, How Pairing Works, Dinner Options and Prices
What is on a Roman cheese board, why some wines suit some cheeses, where to make it dinner, and what each format costs — checked 15 October 2026.
Cheese-first or wine-first: read the inclusions, not the title
Listings call almost everything a “wine and food tasting”, so count instead. The Testaccio cheese and cured meat tasting pours two glasses for four or five cheeses; the eight-cheese flight pours one. The four-wine cave tasting in the same building pours twice as much wine with a smaller board, and Fabullus in Trastevere pours prosecco plus two to four wines. More wine means more to learn about the wine; more cheese means more about milk, makers and ageing. The cave itself, and how it compares with Rome’s other cellars, is on our underground wine tasting page.
What is on the board
Taste’Accio’s cheeses come from small Lazio producers and use four milks — sheep, goat, cow and buffalo — and a stamped Pecorino Romano DOP rind appears among the operator’s own photos. Pecorino is the sheep’s-milk family; DOP (PDO in English) protects the name and place of origin. Buffalo mozzarella and buffalo ricotta turn up at Fabullus and in Cooking Italy’s Trastevere pairing, and Cooking Italy also brings Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36 months under a few drops of 30-year balsamic from Reggio Emilia. Our Trastevere wine tasting guide covers the cellar and pairing formats on that side of the river.
Pairing in plain terms
You do not need theory to enjoy a pairing, but three rules of thumb explain most of what a host will tell you. Fresh, milky cheeses such as mozzarella and ricotta suit sparkling wine and whites, which keep the mouth fresh. Salty, aged cheeses and cured meats can stand up to a red with more body. And taste in order, mildest first, so a strong cheese does not flatten the next wine — one reviewer of the Testaccio cave tasting was told to eat the board in a set order for exactly that reason. Lazio makes mostly white wine, with Frascati the best-known name and Cesanese the native red; our guide to the best Italian wines to try in Rome explains them. New to tasting altogether? Read our beginner’s guide first.
Wine tasting in Rome with dinner
A one-hour cheese tasting is not dinner, so either eat afterwards or book a format that is. The Gourmetaly wine and dine near the Pantheon is the most complete: a chef’s seasonal three-course meal with four Italian wines, including a prosecco and a digestif, for up to ten guests over 2.5 hours. Cooking Italy’s fine wine pairing has a dinner option, and Gourmetaly’s candlelit cave in Pigneto serves three wines with a light dinner of focaccia, cheeses, fried cicchetti, pasta and dessert. For the walking alternatives that replace dinner, see our Rome evening wine tours guide.
What a wine and cheese tasting costs
The Testaccio cheese and cured meat tasting is $45, the eight-cheese flight $47, Cooking Italy’s Trastevere pairing $36 and the Fabullus cellar tasting $65. The wine and dine dinner is $162. A glass in a good Roman wine bar is roughly €5–12 at the time of writing, so a glass and a cheese plate on your own costs less — the booking buys the cave, the producers’ stories and cheeses you would not know to order. Our Rome wine tasting prices page sets out every band.
Taking cheese home? Taste’Accio gives 10% off its products on the day of the cheese and cured meat tasting. Ask whether they can vacuum-pack what you buy if you are flying, and check your home country’s rules on bringing in dairy and meat before you pack it.
The Testaccio food market, the Pyramid of Cestius, a morning at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, or an evening food tour through Trastevere — four things that go well with a wine and cheese tasting in Rome.
Rome Wine and Cheese Tasting: Frequently Asked Questions
Where to go, cheese-first or wine-first, which cheeses, how much wine, dinner, diets, buying cheese and what DOP means.
Where can you do a wine and cheese tasting in Rome?
The most cheese-focused option is Taste’Accio in Testaccio, which ages cheese in a cave dug into Monte Testaccio and runs both a cheese-and-cured-meat tasting with two glasses of wine and an eight-cheese flight with one glass. In Trastevere, Cantina Fabullus pairs Slow Food cheeses with prosecco and two to four wines, and Cooking Italy runs pairings with aged Parmigiano, truffles and 30-year balsamic.
Should I book a cheese-first or a wine-first tasting?
Count the glasses. A cheese-first tasting pours one or two glasses and spends the hour on the cheeses, their milk and their makers. A wine-first tasting pours three to six wines and uses the cheese to show how each one changes with food. If you want to learn about Italian wine, go wine-first; if the cheese counter is what you photograph on holiday, go cheese-first.
What cheeses will I taste on a Rome wine and cheese tasting?
It depends on the venue. The Testaccio tastings serve rare Lazio cheeses from small producers, made from sheep, goat, cow and buffalo milk, many of them aged in the cave. The Fabullus cellar serves fresh and aged cheeses with buffalo mozzarella and buffalo ricotta. Cooking Italy’s pairings feature Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36 months with balsamic vinegar aged 30 years, and Asiago.
How much wine is poured on a wine and cheese tasting?
Less than many people expect on the cheese-led formats: two glasses on the Testaccio cheese and cured meat tasting and one glass on the eight-cheese flight. The wine-led formats pour more — four Lazio wines in the Testaccio cave tasting, and prosecco plus two to four wines at Fabullus. Cooking Italy’s fine wine pairing offers top-ups.
Is a wine and cheese tasting enough for dinner?
The one-hour tastings are generous but are not dinner; plan to eat afterwards. If you want the pairing to be the meal, book a format with food built in: Cooking Italy’s fine wine tasting has a dinner option, and Gourmetaly’s wine and dine serves a chef’s three-course meal with four Italian wines.
Can vegans or lactose-intolerant travellers join?
Usually not in any meaningful way. Cheese is the core of these tastings: the Fabullus food tasting lists vegans as unsuitable, although it offers alternatives on request. The Testaccio listings do not state dietary limits, so message the operator before booking.
Can I buy the cheese after the tasting?
At Taste’Accio, yes. The cheese and cured meat tasting includes a 10% discount on its products on the day of the experience, and the shop sells charcuterie, cheeses, wines, oils, legumes, spirits and amatriciana and carbonara kits to cook at home.
What does PDO or DOP mean on a cheese or wine?
PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin; DOP is the Italian form. It means the name can only be used for a product made in its defined area under that product’s rules, so a stamped Pecorino Romano DOP rind is a guarantee of origin. Italian wines use a parallel system of DOC and DOCG — Frascati, from the hills south-east of Rome, became a DOC in 1966.
More Guides to Wine Tasting in Rome
Longer answers to the questions this page could only touch on.
- Rome wine tasting toursCellars, sommeliers and wine with Roman food, compared.
- Best wine tastings in RomeSeven experiences worth booking, ranked, with what each pours and serves.
- Trastevere wine tastingCellars, wine bars and food walks in Rome’s most popular wine neighbourhood.
- Underground wine tastingsA Roman cistern, the caves under Monte Testaccio and a candlelit tufa cellar compared.
- Private wine tastingsWhat a private tasting costs, and when a small group is the better buy.
- Evening food and wine toursNight walks through Trastevere and the Jewish Quarter that replace dinner.
- Rome wine tasting pricesBudget, mid-range and premium tastings, and what a wine bar costs instead.
- Italian wines to try in RomeFrascati, Cesanese and the northern classics, and which tastings pour them.
- Wine tasting for beginnersWhat happens, how to taste, and which format suits a first-timer.
- Wine tasting in winterWarm cellars and candlelit caves for November to February.