Rosato Italiano
by Anthony Lynch
2021 Rosato “Barrosu”
Italy | Sardinia
This pure Cannonau from Sardinia has reached the ranks of the world’s elite rosés. It’s made from low-yielding old vines farmed organically, entirely by hand (with the occasional help of an ox) from sandy mountaintops in the village of Mamoiada. Barrosu offers a deep complexity and layers of flavor, like a nectar of freshly pressed strawberries with a savory, stony, dry finish. If you’ve enjoyed other serious rosés like those from Dominique Hauvette, Domaine Tempier, or Tavel, Montisci’s is in the same family: food-friendly, age-worthy, and ravishingly delicious down to the last drop.
2022 Valle d’Itria Rosato “Le Rotaie”
Italy | Puglia
I, for one, had never tasted a Susumaniello before trying I Pástini’s rosato, made in the rocky area of Puglia known as the Valle d’Itria. It is one of several local heirloom grape varieties the Carparelli family is working to bring back to the mainstream after near abandonment. With its delicate floral nose, refreshingly crisp mouthfeel saturated with wild berry flavors, and lightly chalky finish, this wine is the ideal ambassador for the grape, the winery, and the entire region. I like a big glass served cold with a fresh tomato salad heaped with creamy burrata—a specialty of Puglia—plus any combination of shredded basil, salt-cured anchovies, and pitted black olives, depending on what is currently in the pantry.
From their idyllic hilltop perch in southern Tuscany, the Sesti family produces some of the finest Brunello di Montalcino out there. Call it a first-world problem, but you can’t drink only Brunello through the heat of summer. The necessity for a wine to be drunk cool during the warm months led the Sestis to create this rosato from Sangiovese otherwise destined to make Brunello (which they could sell for five times the price, by the way). It’s gentle and mouth-filling, perked up by a touch of salinity that recalls the oceanic vineyard soils—quite a sophisticated rosé that is nonetheless gay and carefree.