Expert’s choice: Italian rosé – 18 fine wines to try

While the export market is flooded with pale pink Pinot Grigio and Chiaretto, and more recently with pink Prosecco, the trends in planting paint a confusing picture for Italian rosé.

Italy appears to be one of the few countries where the production of rosé is declining, even if there are more and more producers adding rosé to their portfolios.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 18 of the finest Italian rosé wines

Italy’s rosé (rosato) is still widely regarded as a ‘lesser’ wine lacking historical antecedents, made of varieties seen as having failed as a red wine – a cheap wine for the beach and export.

To counter this widespread negative image, president of the Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC Angelo Peretti, who spearheaded its rosé revolution in 2014, launched a charter in 2018 validating the historic and traditional character of Italian rosé, focusing on DOCs based on traditional varieties: Chiaretto di Bardolino (Corvina), Chiaretto di Valtènesi (Gropello), Castel del Monte (Bombino Nero, the only DOCG rosato), Salice Salentino (Negroamaro) and Cirò (Gaglioppo).

There are many more traditional Italian rosés made with indigenous varieties, however: Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo in Abruzzo; Sangiovese, Ciliegiolo and Alicante (a genetic match with Spain’s Garnacha) in Tuscany; Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto in Piedmont; Primitivo and Susumaniello in Puglia; Aglianico in Campania and Basilicata; and Nerello Mascalese and Nero d’Avola in Sicily.

As demonstrated in other countries, many indigenous varieties of the Mediterranean have developed the ability to retain freshness and acidity, even during the hottest of summers (although Aglianico, Nero d’Avola and Primitivo, while great for big reds, often lack the freshness essential for rosé).

Couple this natural freshness with altitude, as in Abruzzo or Etna (where vineyards can go up to 1,000m and more), or proximity to the sea (Puglia, the heel of Italy, is only 50km wide), and the range of appealing and mouthwatering rosés becomes even more exciting.

Profusion of pink

Scratch a little deeper and the wealth of variety is enormous. One estimate calculated that there are more than 400 appellations (DOC and IGP) for rosé and probably more than 200 grape varieties, which makes choosing the right Italian rosé a veritable minefield; exploring what’s on offer reveals a vast range of styles.

But while the potential for a unique and diverse range of Italian rosés offers unbound richness in terms of style, it can also be confusing for producers and consumers. Which style to make, or to pick off the heaving shelf?

On the export market, wine buyers often play it safe, selecting rosés from the portfolios of the more successful red and white wine producers, usually in more international styles – or simply the palest Pinot Grigios and Chiarettos.

The darker, more ‘individual’ styles are too often overlooked as they demand an introduction by specialist merchants or sommeliers; the preconceived notion of rosé style being tied to southern French typicity is one that consumers should be encouraged to abandon.

Note too that, in the list of 18 wines below, many of the best have some age, offering complexity and often a deeper colour and weightier structure. Although only rarely oaked, these make great gastronomic wines.

Italian rosé: 18 of the finest wines to try

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