Italy 🇮🇹

Tenuta Cipressi, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Buffo Rosé - 2023

Brian Hibbard

— 2 min read
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Fast Facts:

Winemaker(s): Angelo and Francesco Cipressi
Region: Scafa → Pescara Valley → Abruzzo → Italy
Classification: Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC
Varietal(s): Montepulciano
Terroir: Clay and limestone, SE-facing slopes
Serving Temp: 50-55°F

The first vineyard the Cipressi family planted above Scafa was a scrappy little plot they called la brecciara, the gravel patch, because the ground was more rock than dirt and the rock was limestone. Don Angelo Cipressi, the OG, worked it, and when people told him how good his wine was and thank you, he'd say it wasn't him they should be thanking, it was Mother Nature. Brothers Angelo and Francesco run the place now along with Mother Nature, and they converted to organic in 1990 and vegan-ized their whole operation with choosing the unfiltered/unfined route.

The vineyards are all up on the hillsides above Scafa and the towns around it, on the same rocky limestone ground Don Angelo was working. Days get hot and nights come down cold off the Apennines, and that swing is what keeps the acid in the fruit along with body without it getting all overly ripe and pruney. The oldest plantings are Montepulciano, Moscato and Trebbiano, the three classic grapes of this corner of Abruzzo, and the family has kept adding to them.

Cerasuolo takes its name from cerasa, cherry, and is the pink wine Abruzzo has been making forever. Montepulciano, the region's dark red grape, gets a short soak on its skins before pressing, which is where the color and the wee tannin come from. This one comes off a single site called Il Romano, tilted southeast into the sun all day. All stainless steel in the élevage, not an oak barrel in sight.

Why'd we pick it?

Buffo means funny, and it comes from the same people that make a skin-contact Moscato called John Doe. The combination of intentional care towards plants and process while being loosey-goosey about naming and brand identity has a special place in my heart. And Cerasuolo genuinely is wonderful in transitional weather where it's hard to choose the vibe.

Field Notes

  • Tastes like: Sour cherry and wild strawberry, a little blood orange, and a punch of herbs. Bright acid holds it all together while finishing dry and a little dusty in the best way.
  • Serve it properly cold, colder than you'd pour a light red. It fills out as the glass warms.
  • Food Pairings: Smoked trout with crème fraîche and dill, eaten on crackers standing up. Fresh figs and a pecorino snack. Sauté a bunch greens with reduced cranberry beans and garlic and EVOO. Sear off a duck breast and roast Italian prune plums alongside it.

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