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In the battle between French rosé and Italian rosato, rosé's reputation gives it the edge. After all, the Italian variety tends to elicit memories of that mauve syrupy schlock nonnas drink playing canasta. But pink wines don’t come from one grape, but from a winemaking process using skins to stain the juice—and in recent years, Italian rosato makers have been fine-tuning the process to create a lighter, pinker, more refreshing drink. The verdict: French rosé is no longer the only pink wine to chase.
For starters, Italian rosati offer a wider spectrum of pink, varying in hue, taste, and effervescence. Second, many rosati are made from indigenous Italian grapes few people have heard of, like Bombino nero and corvina, so each glass is a lesson in viticulture and history. Third, the Italian wines are typically cheaper, offering more value per bottiglia than rosé, which skyrocketed in price as consumption grew by 1433 percent over the last decade. But the best part: according to most oenophiles, pink wines have been made in Italy longer than rosé has in France—given them more grace with age.
A rosato road trip designed around Tuscany’s Canaiolo Neros or Puglia's strawberry-nosed Negroamaro is the best way to appreciate all of the above—and there's no better time to explore the burgeoning pink wine scene than now. Consider the below Italy road trip your introductory course to the beauty of rosato.
The trip: Five Days, 644 miles
Not all Italian pink winemakers use the term rosato, but pink Italian wines are being produced in every Italian region from Sardinia and Sicily to Friuli. No realistic Italy road trip could include them all—this jaunt goes down the boot’s center from Lombardy to Puglia to sample a decent range.
Yes, the autostrada’s tolls are annoying. Yes, Italian drivers are in a hurry. And there are far too many edible distractions, buzzy beaches, and UNESCO World Heritage Site head-turners along the route, but ultimately this is easy driving through spectacular wine country with cypress and umbrella tree-topped hillsides, campanile-spiked villages, sun-bleached masseria, and more pink wines than a pétanque match in Provence.
Make sure to call ahead to arrange rosati tastings at wineries, though most ristoranti stock enough to give you an overview. And remember to sip lightly—Italy is strict with blood alcohol levels (0.5 percent is considered drunk driving), and bringing home unfinished bottles from lunch is perfectly acceptable.
When to go
Italy is mobbed with tourists during summer when rosato flows heaviest, and late August through September is the beginning of the busy grape harvest. That means that March through June, and September through December, are excellent times to enjoy rosati without the crowds—and the delightful accompaniment of richer, seasonal foods.
Day 1
Kick off with a glass of pink bolle (bubbles) in Lombardy's Franciacorta wine region, an hour east of Milan between Lago Iseo and Brescia. Its Champagne-style wines—like DOC Franciacorta Rosé, made with a mix of Chardonnay, Pinot bianco, Erbamat, and Pinot nero (a.k.a. Pinot noir) grapes—are consumed copiously during Milano’s Fashion Week. You’ll have to fight Milanese for a lake-view balcony at the airy 40-room Rivalago in sleepy Sulzano, parked directly on Iseo, a relaxed anti-Como. Let someone else take the stern and hop on the 11-minute ferry to sleepier Monte Isola where La Foresta trattoria offers a selection of local rosati to pair with dishes like grilled lake fish atop springy polenta cakes.
Back on the mainland, check out Ca’ del Bosco's leafy winery studded with contemporary art, like a dangling rhino sculpture. This is the place to spend big on bubbles, like its crispy, oak-aged Annamaria Clementi Rosato ($140) made from Pinot nero grapes with hits of intense currant. If you’re sticker-shocked, remember that prices drop the further south you go. You could spend weeks exploring the Franciacorta Wine Road, with over 130 cantines, but more rosato awaits.
Day 2
Emilia-Romagna isn't known for its rosati, but beelining past its comfort food cities of Parma, Modena, and Bologna—known for screech-to-a-halt-worthy parmesan, lasagna, and sparkling red Lambruscos—is unthinkable. Pull over at La Piazzetta del Gusto, eight miles from Modena in lesser-known Nonantola, watched over by the 14th-century Bolognesi Tower. Reward yourself with a bowl of polpette (meatballs) smothered in parmesan sauce and passatelli, a toothsome local noodle speciality made from parmesan, breadcrumbs, and egg. Wash it down with a local rosato Lambrusco, a pink version of the region’s full-bodied sparkling red. The menu’s not short on them.
Push south on the A1/E35 autostrada into Tuscany, which produces so much excellent rosato, made in the traditional style, that it merits a few nights. The northern Carmignano region, one of 58 Tuscan appellations, has been producing pink Vin Ruspo for centuries, made with Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Artimino, a third-generation winery with Medici origins, makes a structured one with Merlot grapes. And the DOC region of San Gimignano and fortified vino santo offer rosato expressions too. But modern Tuscan rosati production is relatively new. This is big red country with celebrity winemakers and cult Super Tuscan reds. Rosati—considered “pool wine” by many locals—is under-loved here.
Tuscans typically rely on their trustworthy Sangiovese grape to create rosato and most wineries here will only make one from it. But they’re worth seeking out. This includes Il Borro, home to one of Italy’s oldest cellars. The auberge diffusio (scattered hotel) occupies a medieval village hovering in the canopy of a wild Tuscan forest. It’s owned by the Ferragamo family and run by the dashing son Salvatore, the first of Ferruccio’s six children. Even if you don't stay overnight, book a terrace table at its excellent one-Michelin starred Osteria del Borro, considered the property’s highlight by many. The spicy tomato spaghetti with prawn carpaccio serves as an ideal canvas for the estate’s biodynamic Rosé del Borro IGT (just $15), a soothing pink that tames the sauce's heat.
The hourlong drive south on SP540/SP484 bypasses languorous Etruscan hilltowns, chestnut groves, and shops stocked with olive oil, salumi, and panforte. Set your GPS to Borgo San Felice, a member of Relais & Chateaux, with spacious rooms in old stone villas cloaked in ivy and set in the undulating vineyards of Chianti Classico. They made Chianti’s first Super Tuscan in 1968 and are doing wonders with Pugnitello, an ancient grape varietal. But try its Perolla Rosato, made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and Ciliegiolo grapes fermented in stainless steel (which does, in fact, taste great by the pool).
Day 3
Keep south for one hour and cross into Umbria to experience the new splurge-worthy Reschio Estate. The dreamy hilltop castle was converted to a contemporary hotel in 2020, and its natural pool surrounded by umbrella pines and jazz-age palm court with velvet sofas and a tinkling piano are a sipper's utopia. Its viticulture approach is different because most rosati here is made specifically for its villa owners—its commercially available raṡènio and podere castagne rosati are light, balanced, and worth buying though.
Oenophiles won’t make it through Umbria without a stop in Montefalco, one-hour south and known for its “healthy” tannic Sagrantino reds, high in polyphenols, catechins, proanthocyanidins, and resveratrol. Today it produces notable rosati, including the fruity Villa Conversino Rosato made with Montepulciano and Cornetta grapes from biodiversity-forward Di Filippo and Scacciadiavoli Spumante Brut Rosé, a bottle-fermented frizzante with bread crust notes made with 100 percent Sagrantino grapes. Go ahead, call it healthy.
Day 4
All roads lead to Rome it seems, but avoid those and stay inland on the SS3bis for two hours, then jump on SS4 for 90 minutes. Eventually, you’ll access mountainous, magical Abruzzo, so inaccessible that it was the last part of Italy to be Christianized. Today it retains an austerity that feels otherworldly and un-Italian. Its newish appellation, established in 2010, is DOC Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo (which means “pale cherry”) and fast becoming a rosato celebrity. It’s home to 2021's Rosato of the Year, namely Cataldi Madonna Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Piè delle Vigne 2018.
Even teetotalers will appreciate its picturesque setting in the Gran Sasso d’Italia mountains, worth visiting to understand how winemaking is being impacted by climate change—in this rare case—for the better. The coral-colored estate sits at the base of Corno Grande, the Apennines’ highest peak which is home to the Calderone, its only glacier. For drinkers who’ve sipped too much, physically detox by sweating on the four-mile hike to Marmitte Caves. Or, find a signal to Radio Maria— rumored to be strongest in pagan Abruzzo and located on the dial's low end—to refresh spiritually with nuns chanting Hail Marys. Regardless, you’ll encounter Europe’s highest density of biodiversity here and, if you’re lucky, catch glimpses of wild wolves, bears, and endangered Limonium wildflowers.
Continue south for one hour on SS17 and pull over at the big red arrow outside Alt Stazione del Gusto, a roadside joint plating up fluffy bombas stuffed with roasted pork, crispy fried chicken, and local rosati by the glass. It opened in 2019 by Chef Niko Romito, who runs the three-Michelin starred Reale and nine-room Casadonna, a former 16th-century monastery turned temple-like inn just up the street in the Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo. Appreciate its deep tranquility before hopping on the chaotic autostrada again.
Day 5
Not only is Puglia making some of Italy’s most excellent rosati—made commercially since the 1940s with Negroamaro, Bombino Nero, Malvasia Nera, and Primitivo grapes—it’s the only place on the road trip near beaches. From Abruzzo, wind down SS652 to the Adriatic coast and then plunge down to the heel on the A14/A14 autostrada. The landscape here becomes flatter, the soil redder, and everything is parched. Good thing it’s home to hundreds of wineries.
Visit at least two rosati makers in the heel to get a sense of the region’s passionate winemaking spirit. From Abruzzo, it’s a 3.5-hour drive to the outskirts of the Aragonese port of Taranto, home of Vetrère, powered by clean energy and run by sisters Annamaria and Francesca Bruni who make four excellent organic rosati. Call ahead to arrange a three-hour lunch in their woodsy garden.
Forty five minutes east is Tormaresca’s Masseria Maìme winery, whose Calafuria Rosato I.G.T. Salento who's near-perfect hue is dubbed “peach petal pink.” The cartouche-embossed bottle feels and looks downright luxurious, but only cost $15 USD.
Finally, some beach time. The 40-room Rocco Forte Masseria Torre Maizza in Fasano is set in a grove of old growth olive trees and maquis shrubland that doubles as a nine-hole golf course. But its sizable menu of Apulian rosati lets you sample the region's expressions. Park the car, grab a chilled bottle, and hop on a bike to explore the diverse beaches nearby—rocky Savelletri just ten minutes on bike and sandy Torre Canne just another 15 minutes more of pedaling. After all, you’re trying to build up a thirst.
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