Red
Ciliegiolo
A Tuscan red named for cherries, which is what it tastes like: bright, juicy red cherry with soft tannin and moderate acid. It is blended into Sangiovese wines across the Maremma and central Italy, and it makes a good light red on its own, drunk young and cool.
Worth knowing
DNA work has established a parent and offspring relationship between Ciliegiolo and Sangiovese. Which one is the parent is disputed: a 2007 study proposed Ciliegiolo as a parent of Sangiovese, and another study published the same year argued the reverse.
Where it is allowed11 appellations