VALMEZZANA

Valmezzana is the rosé of the Etel estate — a wine of serious intent produced from 100% Aglianico, one of the great red varieties of southern Italy, in a style that places it firmly outside the conventions of easy seasonal rosé production. Aglianico is not a grape one instinctively associates with the rosé style: it is a grape of firm tannins, high acidity, and considerable structural weight in its red wine expressions — the same qualities that make Taurasi one of Italy's most age-worthy wines. In Valmezzana, these qualities are handled with genuine skill to produce a rosé of both freshness and substance.

The Aglianico vines that produce Valmezzana were planted in 2011 on the rocky, clayey, northwest-facing slopes of Foria di Centola at 180 to 250 metres — the same site that produces the estate's Maricinè and Futos red wines from the same variety, harvested earlier for the rosé to preserve freshness. The maceration with the skins is brief — approximately one hour at a low temperature of five to six degrees Celsius — a cold maceration that extracts the colour and a measure of the grape's aromatic compounds without the tannins and structure that longer skin contact would develop.

After maceration, the wine is aged for seven months in stainless steel — a clean, reductive approach that preserves the freshness of the fruit and the mineral precision of the Cilento terroir. The result is a rosé of genuine character: not the pale, delicate style of Provence, but a wine of deeper colour and more substantial body that reflects the power of its base variety while remaining genuinely fresh and mineral.

Valmezzana belongs at the table alongside the full range of Mediterranean cuisine — seafood preparations, grilled fish, Mediterranean vegetables, and the lighter red meat preparations that call for a wine of rosé freshness with more body than the lightest pink wines can offer.

Available through UniqueWines. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees Celsius.