Italy · red
Cerasuolo di Vittoria
Sicily’s only DOCG: a blend of Nero d’Avola and the floral, delicate Frappato, pale and perfumed.
What is Cerasuolo di Vittoria?
Frappato lightens and perfumes what would otherwise be a fairly substantial Nero d’Avola, producing a pale, fragrant, medium-light red.
The name means "cherry-coloured", which is accurate. It is excellent lightly chilled and is one of very few Italian reds that works with fish.
Grapes
What it tastes like
| Dimension | Typical | Range | Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetness | low | Consistent | |
| Acidity | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Tannin | medium | Some variation | |
| Alcohol | medium | Some variation | |
| Body | medium | Some variation | |
| Fruit intensity | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Aromatic intensity | medium | Consistent | |
| Oak influence | low-medium | Some variation | |
| Savoury character | low-medium | Consistent | |
| Floral character | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Herbal / green character | low | Consistent | |
| Spice | low | Consistent | |
| Earthy character | low | Consistent | |
| Perceived freshness | high | Some variation | |
| Texture | medium | Some variation |
Common flavours
What makes it this way
The decisions and conditions that produce this style rather than another.
- The Nero d’Avola–Frappato blend
- Sandy, calcareous soils around Vittoria
- Little or no oak
How it is made
Method
Maceration and extraction
Soaking skins in juice to extract colour, tannin and flavour — the main lever on a red wine's structure.
Method
Blending
Combining components to make something better than any of them alone.
Method
Stainless steel and inert vessels
Fermenting in a vessel that contributes nothing, to preserve fruit and freshness.
Why does it taste like that?
The grape, the growing season, the winemaking and the age — what each contributes, and what none of them determines.
See what makes Cerasuolo di Vittoria taste the way it does →
If you like Cerasuolo di Vittoria, try…
Each suggestion says why it is connected and what will be different.
Closest matches
What is most like this?
Frappato
Both are made from frappato, and the structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, both come from the same country.
Expect it to be less oaky, and lighter.
Beaujolais
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both sit in the same style family.
Expect it to be less tannic and softer, and lighter.
Valpolicella
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both sit in the same style family.
Expect it to be less floral, and lighter.
Similar but lighter
Something like this, but lighter?
English still Pinot Noir
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both sit in the same style family.
Expect it to be lighter, and earthier.
Frappato
Both are made from frappato, and the structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, both come from the same country.
Expect it to be less oaky, and less tannic and softer.
Schiava
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both come from the same country.
Expect it to be lighter, and less tannic and softer.
Similar but lower in alcohol
Something like this, but less alcoholic?
English still Pinot Noir
They occupy similar territory for weight and structure, and both sit in the same style family.
Expect it to be lighter, and earthier.
Frappato
Both are made from frappato, and the structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, both come from the same country.
Expect it to be stronger and warmer, and less oaky.
Beaujolais
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both sit in the same style family.
Expect it to be stronger and warmer, and less tannic and softer.
Similar but fuller
Something like this, but richer?
Nero d’Avola
Both are made from nero d’avola, and the structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, both come from the same country.
Expect it to be less floral, and broader and softer.
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both come from the same country.
Expect it to be less floral, and broader and softer.
Montepulciano
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, and both come from the same country.
Expect it to be less floral, and broader and softer.
What to eat with it
Chilli con carne
Fresh cherry fruit at moderate strength with no tannic grip — it survives the spice instead of amplifying it.
Fillet steak
Works because the finished dish, not the raw ingredient, sets the target.
Turkey
Works because the finished dish, not the raw ingredient, sets the target.
Arrabbiata
Light, bright Sicilian red with fresh cherry fruit and no tannic grip.
Grilled chicken
Works because ripe fruit balances the bitterness of char and smoke.
Spicy pizza
Light and fresh with no tannic grip to sharpen the burn.
What to avoid with it
Dishes the pairing engine scores badly, and the principle that explains why. A short list: most things are fine.
Korean barbecue
A dry wine will taste thin and sour against a sweet dish.
Salmon in a cream sauce
Noticeable tannin is a risk with fish even where the wine is otherwise a reasonable weight.
Biryani
A dry wine will taste thin and sour against a sweet dish.
Tiramisu
A dry wine will taste thin and sour against a sweet dish.
How to serve it
Temperature
13–16°C
55–61°F · Cellar cool
About 45 minutes to an hour in the fridge from room temperature, or take it out of the fridge about an hour before serving.
Decanting
No need to decant
Nothing about this wine suggests it needs decanting. Light, aromatic and sparkling wines generally lose more than they gain.
Glass
Burgundy bowl
A wide bowl gives a delicate, aromatic red more surface area to release aroma, and directs it to the nose from a wider rim.
Ageing
Three to five years. Frappato contributes perfume rather than structure, so this is a wine to drink for its floral lift rather than to wait on.
Ageing potential
Rewards some age
Five to ten years, at the better addresses · confidence: low
Has the acidity or structure to develop. Tertiary character — leather, dried fruit, mushroom, honey — starts to appear, and tannin softens noticeably.
Why
- Favours ageing. Acidity. High. Acidity is the single best predictor of longevity across every style — a low-pH wine is more stable both chemically and microbiologically.
- Favours ageing. Tannin. Moderate — some protection and some to resolve.
What this cannot tell you
- Age is not improvement. A great many wines are made to be drunk within two years and get worse, not better, with time — and there is no shame in a style that is at its best young.
- WineHQ does not publish drinking windows. A window like "2032–2041" requires knowing the producer, the vintage and how the bottle was stored, and a style-level model knows none of those.
- Bottle variation at twenty years is large, especially under cork, where oxygen ingress differs between individual closures from the same batch.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Italian DOP and IGP wine register — Ministero dell’agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF)
- eAmbrosia — the EU geographical indications register — European Commission