This month, the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel group is traveling to Central Italy and visiting Umbria and Lazio. Lazio has always had a fascination for me because I visit the region often and because it’s still so under the radar. I am certain that its signature red variety, Cesanese del Piglio, has a bright future in the US. I am just not sure when it will become everyone’s new favorite grape.

I first discovered this grape variety in 2005 when I was doing a series of interviews with winemakers throughout Italy for a project. I interviewed the Principessa Maria Camilla Pallavicini and wrote about the visit here. Cesanese del Piglio is made from a minimum of 90% Cesanese Comune and Cesanese d’Affile. Cesanese is not that widely seen on wine list menus and I think it is a real shame.

Cesanese’s home base is Frosinone, an area between Rome and Naples. The area specifically where Cesanese is grown is known as the Ciociaria. Perhaps this word is not too unfamiliar as it is the name of a very famous movie from the 1960s for which Sophie Loren won an Oscar, La Ciociara. There are many beautiful and historic cities to visit here including Anagni formerly a papal city, Alatri, Ferentino, Piglio, Serrone and Veroli. Cesanese del Piglio reigns supreme in terms of the red wines here.

Cesanese makes full bodied wine with red fruit aromas, spicy notes and some deep earthy, animal skin flavors. In certain incarnations it reminds me of a lighter primitivo, a well known wine from the Apulia region. The winery Casale della Ioria located in Arcuto is very well known for both its Cesanese del Piglio and its Passerina del Frusinate IGT. The young team running the winery I most recently at Slow Wine in Boston right before the pandemic in 2020 before the world shut down and then again at Vinitaly this year.

Another super well-known winery making Cesanese is Casale Del Giglio. Started in 1969 by Berardino Santarelli. The winery has been conducting research on which grapes are best suited to the area since 1984.

Another producer from Latina that has been getting his share of attention is Marco Carpineti. He is an organic wine maker and is biologically certified. Carpineti makes wines using both white and red grape varieties. While more focused on Nero Buono di Cori, he does make a great blend called Tufaliccio using Montepulciano and Cesanese. Again, I tried all of these wines again this year in April. What a treat!

A new, at least to me, version of Cesanese is one I tasted last summer at a friend’s house and then again thanks to the Italian Trade Commission course I taught in NYC last July. The producer is Damiano Ciolli and these wines are amazing. Damiano is the third generation to run the winery. He and his partner, Letizia, make incredible wines that are grown using organic and biodynamic processes. The wine ages in concrete tanks rather than in oak and I think that could be the wave of the future, at least I hope so. They are near the town of Olevano Romano, one of the hot spots for Cesanese. With red earth, breezes and at 300-450 meters above sea level, these wines are fresh and elegant.

If you have had Cesanese in the past, and it wasn’t for you, try it again. I think you will find a lot to enjoy in these red wines from Lazio.

There will be a Twitter chat later today,  June 3 at 11 AM ET/ 17.00 CET. Here are the contributions coming for June:

Andrea from The Quirky Cork shares “Arnaldo Caprai Grecante with Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Salad”

Camilla from Culinary Cam focuses on “From Lazio with Love – Bellone and Bruschette – an Ancient Grape & a Simple Appetizer”

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Enjoying the Food and Wine of Umbria”

Susannah from Avvinare features “Cesanese del Piglio- A Bright Future”

Jennifer from Vino Travels shares “Trebbiano Spoletino: Not all Trebbiano are the same”

Katarina from Grapevine Adventures features “Sustainability at the Heart of Winemaking: Exploring Madrevite Winery’s Commitment to Environmental and Economic Well-being in Umbria”