Red
Cesanese
A Lazio red grown in the hills southeast of Rome and, in blends, across the Castelli Romani and the coast. It gives red cherry, black pepper and a floral lift over moderate tannin. The rules of several appellations say simply Cesanese and allow either of the two versions.
Worth knowing
Cesanese Comune crops heavily and gives a plainer wine; Cesanese di Affile has smaller berries and makes the serious one. Vineyards planted before the distinction mattered contain both, so what is in the bottle often depends on what an ancestor planted.
Where it is allowed8 appellations