Azienda Agricola Valentini
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo
Abruzzi, Italy
Valentini Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Tasting Note
Region & Grape: Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC, Abruzzo, Italy. Made from 100% Montepulciano. I picked this bottle at a steakhouse in Florence and served it blind to friends. It cost €110, about 10% below the international price. Production is very low, and unfortunately only the new vintage was available.
Aroma: Highly complex. Notes of wild strawberry, cherry, and rose petals, along with this wine’s signature unique perfume note—a friend described it as the pink Miss Dior, full of girlish charm—intertwined with herbs and wet stone minerality.
Palate: Full-bodied, with bright acidity and fine tannins. The finish shows distinct saline minerality and a slight almond-like bitterness, with a long aftertaste.
This wine is very difficult to identify blind. A legendary “cult” rosé from Abruzzo, extremely well made. Far from a simple, easy-drinking rosé. Valentini owns nearly 70 hectares of vineyards, but each year selects less than 5% of the fruit for winemaking; the remaining over 95% is rejected and sold off for failing to meet the standard. This extreme selectivity means the estate’s total annual production is only about 30,000 bottles, and the Cerasuolo rosé follows the same principle. I plan to hunt down some older vintages to drink.
Valentini Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Tasting Note
Region & Grape: Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC, Abruzzo, Italy. Made from 100% Montepulciano. I picked this bottle at a steakhouse in Florence and served it blind to friends. It cost €110, about 10% below the international price. Production is very low, and unfortunately only the new vintage was available.
Aroma: Highly complex. Notes of wild strawberry, cherry, and rose petals, along with this wine’s signature unique perfume note—a friend described it as the pink Miss Dior, full of girlish charm—intertwined with herbs and wet stone minerality.
Palate: Full-bodied, with bright acidity and fine tannins. The finish shows distinct saline minerality and a slight almond-like bitterness, with a long aftertaste.
This wine is very difficult to identify blind. A legendary “cult” rosé from Abruzzo, extremely well made. Far from a simple, easy-drinking rosé. Valentini owns nearly 70 hectares of vineyards, but each year selects less than 5% of the fruit for winemaking; the remaining over 95% is rejected and sold off for failing to meet the standard. This extreme selectivity means the estate’s total annual production is only about 30,000 bottles, and the Cerasuolo rosé follows the same principle. I plan to hunt down some older vintages to drink.