Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC 2024: Italian Rosé Reviewed
La Valentina's Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo 2024: 100% Montepulciano, 18 hours on the skins, cherry, grapefruit and pine cone. A rosé with structure, and with caveats.
Cherry, strawberry and raspberry, and then something you don’t expect: pine cone and rosemary. La Valentina’s Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo 2024 caught me off guard straight away. “Incredibly beautiful,” I said as I tasted it. This is rosé with serious intentions.
What a Cerasuolo is
Cerasuolo means cherry-coloured, and that’s the colour it has. It’s a rosé of one hundred percent Montepulciano from Abruzzo. It isn’t a by-product of a red wine: it’s made as a rosé on purpose.
The juice stays on the skins for eighteen hours. Long enough to pick up colour, fruit and a touch of tannin, too short for the extraction of a red. That puts it between white and red, with structure for the table.
The estate and the vineyards
La Valentina farms thirty hectares across three areas, certified organic by ICEA. The vines for the Cerasuolo are 26 to 39 years old and grow at 150 to 300 metres. There’s more on the estate in my piece on three La Valentina wines.
Harvest ran from 20 September to 4 October, by hand. After the skin contact, fermentation and ageing take place in stainless steel. Bottling starts in January, under cork or screwcap. Production is 38,000 bottles a year.
Tasting Note
Appearance
Cherry pink with orange highlights.
Nose
Cherry, strawberry and raspberry first. Beneath that, something deeper and spicier: a grapefruit bitterness, orange peel, and surprisingly, pine cone and rosemary.
Palate
Elegant, with crisp acidity that isn’t too sharp and a small bitter touch of grapefruit. Pure.
Finish
Clean and refreshing, with that grapefruit bitterness.
Quality
A real recommendation. Excellent value for money.
What to watch for
First, the bitterness. That grapefruit edge makes the wine exciting, but if you want a soft, fruity rosé you may not appreciate it.
Second, finding it. When I tasted it, the wine wasn’t yet on sale in the Netherlands; La Valentina was looking for an importer. The estimated price was ten to fifteen euros. So check first whether it’s available here now.
Third, drink it young. The wine is bottled from January to keep it fresh. This isn’t a rosé to leave lying around for years.
At the table
It’s an ideal aperitif, and it doesn’t need food. If you do want something with it, think grilled fish, seafood pasta or a Mediterranean fish stew. Roast chicken and duck work too. The bitterness and acidity cut through richer dishes, while the fruit suits lighter food.
- Producer
- La Valentina, Abruzzo
- Wine
- Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC
- Vintage
- 2024
- Region
- Abruzzo, Italy
- Grape
- Montepulciano (100%)
- Vineyards
- 26-39-year-old vines, 150-300 m, organic (ICEA)
- Winemaking
- 18 hours skin contact, fermentation and ageing in stainless steel
- Production
- 38,000 bottles
- Price
- About €10-15 (estimate)
Sources
- My own tasting note, 2025
- La Valentina (official): lavalentina.it
- Consorzio Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo: vinidabruzzo.it
More on Wine Review
C. Kloss Sparkling Tea Weiss: Fermented Celery
Non-alcoholic sparkling tea Weiss from C. Kloss: linden blossom, nettle and fermented celery. Dry, 2.7 g sugar per 100 ml, €14.99 at Amavine.
Read on →
Barbadillo Sábalo: Organic Palomino Without Flor
Organic Palomino Sábalo from Barbadillo: no flor, salt from albariza soil. Chamomile, apple, sea. €17.95 at Granada Wijnen, with discount code.
Read on →
Tua Rita Lodano Rosso 2024: Petit Verdot Leads
A €50.95 Super Tuscan built on 60 percent Petit Verdot and 18 months of barrique. Why I chill it, decant it and never drink it without food.
Read on →