Il Monticello Serasuolo Ciliegiolo Rosato 2022
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Soft, elegant color resulting from brief contact with red grape skins. Hints of spring fruits, wild strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate, with delicate floral notes. Immediately fresh and pleasantly savory palate, that entices the drinker to take another sip.
It was 1980 when Pier Luigi Neri inherited a farm in Liguria, one of the smallest regions in Italy (5420 km2) overlooking the Ligurian Sea, bordering France to the West, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna to the North and to the East with Tuscany. This is how the Neri family came into possession of a large nineteenth-century house with a large plot of land, a small paradise in the countryside of Sarzana, in eastern Liguria, which over time has become one of the most appreciated wine-growing realities of the "Colli di Luni," an area with Denomination of Controlled Origin: Monticello.
The brothers Alessandro and Davide Neri, sons of Pier Luigi, are the custodians of those first cuttings of Vermentino, Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Ciliegiolo planted more than 40 years ago and which their studies, respectively in engineering and agronomy, have been able to enhance at its best, making Monticello a successful company.
With more than 14 hectares of vineyard land, the company today produces over 100 thousand bottles a year, an important number for a difficult land like Liguria which offers nothing, due to the steep slopes that hinder the cultivation and maintenance of the vineyards . But care and respect for the vine, indispensable principles for the Neri brothers, repay every effort.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
Forming a crescent along Italy’s northwestern Mediterranean coast, Liguria is one of the country’s smallest regions. Though its ports, Genoa and Savona have welcomed foreign influence for centuries, the region today is experiencing a fresh interest in its own indigenous varieties. Liguria commits large efforts to the white Vermentino (also called Pigato) and the red varieties Rossese, Sangiovese and Dolcetto (also called Ormeasco in Liguria).
Liguria has no shortage of dizzyingly steep, coastal vineyards. On its eastern end in Cinqueterre, Vermentino grows along cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. On its west, bordering France, terraced, seaside vineyards are home to Rossese di Dolceacqua, Liguria’s powerful yet highly aromatic red.