A crowd gathers around Fausto Albanesi, the bespectacled winemaker from Torre dei Beatti, at a wine festival in Abruzzo, Italy in May 2019. An English Master of Wine scribbles in his notebook as he praises the “wonderful softness” of Albanesi’s “Rosa-ae” Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC 2018, while a reporter Delhi thoughtfully swirls her glass.

“Italian sommeliers say you can serve Cerasuolo with anything. It combines the freshness of rosé with the robustness of Montepulciano,” Albanesi says. The group at his booth murmurs appreciatively. Cerasuolo means “cherry” in Italian, and Cerasulo d’Abruzzo wines like Torre dei Beatti’s have a deep, almost garnet color that distinguishes them from pale, Provencal-style rosés that dominate the American market.