Rosé wine: It’s not just for summer anymore!

Rosé wines get a bad rap. Damned with faint praise as “great summer sippers,” they are much more than a pink seasonal treat. 

Rosés are made from a wide variety of red grapes, whose flavors vary wildly and whose colors range from bubble gum pink to amber to cherry red.

Speaking of cherry red, that’s both the color and the name of Magella Lampato Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, one of our favorite Italian rosé (or rosato in Italian) wines. The name Cerasuolo – pronounced che-ra-SWOH-lo –  means cherry red, and that’s what you get with this beautiful wine from Italy’s Abruzzo region. We order the Magella Lampato every time we’re at Vinotta on Moody Street, one of the few restaurants in Greater Boston serving this hard-to-find charmer.

Made from 100% Montepulciano grapes, the Magella Lampato is dazzling to look at and a pleasure to drink. Limestone and grapefruit on the nose lead to a riot of fresh berry and cherry flavors. With its solid structure and bracing acidity, the wine stands up to anything on Vinotta’s menu. We recently paired it with the Shrimp Portofino, whose blend of onion, garlic and red pepper flavors did not overwhelm this sturdy rosato. If you’re ready to consider rosé a year-round pleasure, the Magella Lampato Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo awaits.