Looking at Italy Through Rosé Tinted Glasses: Cerasuolo, Rosato, Ramato and Chiaretto

Although Provence has cornered the market for Rosé wines the world over, Italy has a long and distinguished history with pink wine production. Rosato production is so well entrenched in Italian culture that Italy offers by far the greatest number of variations on the subject, a fact that shouldn’t surprise, given the flair Italians have for creativity and individualism.

As is the case everywhere else in the world, Rosato wines in Italy can be made via two techniques: winemakers will use either direct pressing of red grapes or bleed off must from tanks before skin contact imparts too much color to what will ultimately be red wines (the saignée method). But in Italy, it’s a lot more fun — and complicated — than that. A major difference with other Rosé-producing countries, where pink wines are typically always made from the same four or five grape varieties, is that many wildly different grapes are used in Italy. The combination of myriad grapes and numerous variations on the two main winemaking methods leads to four extremely different Italian pink wines: Chiaretto, Ramato, Rosato and Cerasuolo. I should point out that while Rosato is the general name for pink wines in Italy, it is also a category all on its own, falling in between the very pale, Provence-styled Chiarettos and the much darker Cerasuolos. Also, please note that Cerasuolo is not to be confused with Cerasuolo di Vittoria, which is a red wine made in Sicily.

Bottling Nebbiolo-based Rosato at Le Pianelle, Piedmont

Each type of pink wine characterizes, and is strongly associated with, specific regions of the country: Chiaretto is typical of Lombardy and Veneto, Ramato of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Cerasuolo of Abruzzo. Rosatos are made all over the country but are especially associated with Puglia. However, even more variations are obtained within each of these four main pink wine categories, depending on the grape varieties used and the length of maceration on the skins before the juice is bled off. A wine made from the Dindarella or Canaiolo Nero native grape varieties will be far fresher and lighter-bodied than one made from Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon (in Italy, you’ll find all of them, and more), and all four of those will be wildly different from pink wines made with Aglianico, Nebbiolo or Sangiovese. For example, although Lombardy and Veneto are both reputed for their Chiaretto wines, these can be very different. Those made on the eastern shores of Lake Garda (not far from Verona, in Veneto) are blends of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, and the best known of these pink wines is Bardolino Chiaretto. But the Valténesi Chiaretto, made on the western shores of the lake (and hence in Lombardy, not far from Brescia) emerges from a completely different microclimate and blend of grapes (mainly a mix of different Groppello varieties, plus or minus small amounts of Marzemino, Barbera, Sangiovese and Rebo).