You may have heard of Elisabetta Foradori. She’s a legendary winemaker and one of the leaders of female winemaking. Elisabetta is arguably the most famous female winemaker in all of Italy. She’s a boss, and she wanted to create unique expressions of natural wine in Tuscany that pushed the boundaries of classic Italian winemaking.
Ampeleia is based in Roccatederighi, Tuscany and now sprawls over 120 hectares of land, but just 35 of them are vineyards. They also have vegetable gardens, animals, and a massive olive grove. They believe in biodiversity and unique winemaking practices that most Tuscans would turn their nose to…until they take a sip.
This is the Ampeleia Rosé and I dreamed of sharing it with all of you when I first tried it last summer out on a farm while eating chicken livers. Chicken livers and rosé?! Who woulda know this could be a perfect pairing. The reason why is because this wine drinks more like a chilled red wine that has light tannin structure and is bursting with dark red fruits.
You’ll notice this wine is a bit deeper and darker in color compared to your traditional rosé. This is because of the grape Alicante Nero, which is a red skinned and red pulped grape. So, when the grape juice is pressed through the juices are already a red hue, then when the typical skin contact that is necessary for producing rosé happens, it produces an even darker pink wine. The Ampeleia Rosato was born for cooking out on a beautiful summer afternoon at the beach. Get it nice and chilled and make sure you’ve got a charcoal grill. This one deserves the extra flavor of the charcoal grill.