Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is a huge wine competition, this year the rosé judging was held in Croatia. 55 International tasters got to grips with 1,205 pink wines.
Just 13 of those wines were awarded 'Grand Gold Medals' and one was Cantina Sangro's Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo. This is serious recognition for a very reasonably priced wine, one that we have imported for a while now. It is a dark rosé, made from the Montepulciano grape and is totally delicious.
We have shipped the 2022, and have just a few bottles of the 2021 left.
There was a time when rosé was thought to have a shelf-life of 20 minutes, this simply is not true. Well-made pink wines tend to shed their citrus flavours for equally charming cherry and strawberry flavours.
Some rosé wines have a fine spine of tannin; generally, it is the racy acidity and salinity that I treasure in this genre, and I love both simple, immaculate fresh Cerasuolo (like this one made by Sangro) and mind-bendingly brilliant Cerasuolo like the one we buy from InAlto.
Awards rarely seem to have much effect on our sales; then again, I am not very good at letting you know what the press are excited about. But even I was impressed by this achievement!
I found out about this from the Gambero Rosso's daily email, which is worth subscribing to - it's free and fun.
Also, The Gambero Rosso (The best Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo in 6 labels under 20 euros according to Gambero Rosso) were very lovely about Camilo Montori's Cerasuolo, which we have shipped for over 25 years; it will come back into stock later in the year ...
"Cerasuolo Fonte Cupa by Camillo Montori, awarded on Berebene 2024 by Gambero Rosso for the best quality/price ratio in Abruzzo, presents a very Mediterranean bouquet, salty, played on sensations of aromatic herbs that whip a crunchy and well-defined red fruit. Mineral and sapid, these are the two directions through which the sip develops, punctuated by a subtle, tantalizing, tannic texture. The company in Controguerra can count on about fifty hectares of vineyards, among the historical brands of the Abruzzo wine world. Among the rows, there are the great classics of the region, Montepulciano and Trebbiano, accompanied by Pecorino and Passerina, but also by international grapes. The style finds the right compromise between tradition and modern vision, a philosophy that materializes in the Fontecupa line, which gathers the most ambitious labels."