 The area is now occupied by the modern day papal residence of Castelgandolfo.The land was praised by Columella" "For there is no doubt that, of all the vines that the earth sustains, those of the Massic, Surrentine, Alban, and Caecuban lands hold first place in the excellence of their wine"" (De Re Rustica, III.8.5).Dionysius of Halicarnassus noted the quality of the area's wine as he wrote ""Lying below the city are plains marvelous to behold and rich in producing wines and fruits of all sorts in no degree inferior to the rest of Italy, and particularly what they call the Alban wine, which is sweet and excellent and, with the exception of the Falernian, certainly superior to all others.""