2024 will be the year of Cerasuolo, we have tasted it in advance and are ready to bet on it

The hotter months, for Gambero Rosso, coincide with the final stages of the Vini d'Italia guide, from the regional selections to the national finals, those in which the best wines of the Peninsula are decided. As our wanderings among the best of Italy's wine production proceeds, we take stock of the different production areas, as in the case of Abruzzo.

If we were Abruzzo producers, we would probably bet on Cerasuolo, in our opinion the wine of the future. Cerasuolo reconciles us with Montepulciano: the richness and material power are harnessed in light wines that, in the best versions, lose none of the energy of the grape variety, rather they channel it in the right direction. Obviously, we are talking about the genuine versions, the ones with the most identity; because there are sore points in this type as well.

Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, amidst sore points and forecasts for the 2022 vintage

One: the colour. It is useless, and probably also counterproductive, to distort Cerasuolo by draining its colour: a Cerasuolo should be 'cerasuolo' in colour; for drained, onion-skin, Provençal-style rosés, there are other appellations, and not everyone has to produce everything, just to complete the range and please the market. Two: too many times we have found ourselves in front of Cerasuolo wines that smell like candy shops: perhaps leaving Montepulciano a little more at large, at least in this type, would be more welcome.

That said, there were so many wines that we enjoyed, that we even tasted them at the table after the long, tiring days of tasting. The 2022 vintage, moreover, for the type, also seemed to us to be a good vintage, with several juicy and fragrant labels. We now await our finals for the verdicts.