Focus on Cesanese: Lazio's only DOCG Red Grape

Balanced. Medium - Full body.  Cesanese del Piglio is home to Lazio's only DOCG zone for the red grape Cesanese and lies just 55 miles southeast of Rome.  The best area is in Frosinone, on the foothills of the Ernici hills where Casale della Ioria has made wine for generations under the Perinelli name. In the early 80's, its current patriarch, Paolo, decided to tear out existing international varietals and replant the cuttings from the vineyard's best vines of the local Cesanese d'Affile grape.

Paolo Perinelli was among the first to age its first label, Tenuta della Ioria in big wooden barrels and the following year, was the first to age its premium wine, Torre del Piano, in French barriques.

Paolo steered from the sweet and fizzy red wine previously common in Rome to an elegant, native varietal wine worthy of Roman Emperors and the Papal society.

Tenuta della Ioria Cesanese Superiore is a medium to full red with medium tannins and acidity. On the palate you will find pomegranate, cranberry and plum – perhaps a hint of violet on the nose. 

We prefer this great red with dishes of wild boar, oxtails, porchetta and salami.  And pasta? Enjoy Cesanese with Carbonara and Amatriciana - like a local!