Cesanese – who has even heard of this wine? Hardly ever seen outside this region, it has very ancient origins in Lazio, as grape growing and winemaking have existed in this area since the Etruscans, from about 900 BC. It is thought by most researchers to have emerged from the hills outside of Rome and may have been used in Roman winemaking. One of the area’s producers, Rapillo, describes it like this:
“In a bottle of Cesanese there is not only an unmistakable bright ruby red. There is a story. Millennial, unique, fascinating. There is the scent of the woods, the echo of ancient battles, the severe crenellated profile of noble palaces. There are men, lands, legends. Because a good wine is like a good book: it tells and captivates, to give us the opportunity to continue imagining. And this small strip of land has a lot to tell.”
What leads us to believe that Cesanese could be a descendant of the wine of the Romans? First, a little history. After service in the legions, retired soldiers were given land to farm. Under the slopes of Mount Scalambra, the hillsides were prized for grape growing. To plant vines on these hills, however, it was necessary to deforest: hence the word Cesanese, or wine produced in the Caesae, a Latin term that means a place that has become cultivable due to the cutting of trees. Their efforts would have a ready market in the Capitol, as it was a wine particularly appreciated by the Roman aristocracy. The Emperors Nero, Nerva and Traiano loved these lands so much that they spent long periods there, and claimed it as one of their favorite wines. The latter two even had villas built in the area.
The Villa of the Emperor Traiano near Piglio (Photo: Museo Civico Archeologico Villa di Traiano)
After the fall of Rome is 476 AD, the city experienced cataclysmic changes, among which were a population and a brain drain. The diminishing of the population really began under the Emperor Constantine when he moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople in 330 AD, and with him went many of the skilled crafts people, tradespeople, scholars and bureaucratic workers. The result was an exodus of residents from a high of about one million in 300 AD to less than 50,000 people by 600 AD. With the lack of a central core of government in Rome, Italy was subjected to constant invasions by the various Germanic tribes. For safety and protection from the marauding barbarians, many of those who fled the city moved to the hills of Latium where they built towns out of stone totally isolated from anyone else.
Piglio and Olevano Romano are two of the villages in which people returned to their roots, to the villages of their ancestors. Tribes such as the Equi and Ernici lived here before this became a Roman territory in 250 BC. Over centuries without interruption, the Pigliesi afterward retained their cooking and wine making skills, so that many of these traditions were brought from classical Rome. When one drinks the native varietals of Latium, the origin is likely the wine of the Romans.
Olevano Romano (Photo by the author)
Piglio and Olevano Romano are two of the villages in which people returned to their roots, to the villages of their ancestors. Tribes such as the Equi and Ernici lived here before this became a Roman territory in 250 BC. Over centuries without interruption, the Pigliesi afterward retained their cooking and wine making skills, so that many of these traditions were brought from classical Rome. When one drinks the native varietals of Latium, the origin is likely the wine of the Romans.
In later centuries, the wine appealed to popes, in particular Innocent III and Bonifacius VIII, as well as bishops, cardinals, and the local nobility. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in every cellar would have its supply of Cesanese. Legend has it that Caravaggio became a fan, after fleeing from Rome was protected in Paliano, in the Piglio DOCG, by the Colonna princes.
The cultivation of the Cesanese variety had been steadily declining over the last two centuries. Urbanization of the area around Rome, the movement of the workforce from the agricultural sector and the difficulties of cultivation in mountainous terrain all contributed to the almost-disappearance of the variety. By 2000 there was not much remaining. Now there’s over 2100 acres and it is the focus of increased attention and cultivation.
The traditional vinification was as a sweet red wine, often sparkling – from slightly frizzante to spumante. The newer generation of winemakers in the last 20-30 years has shifted to dry wines, increasing in quality as young growers take over the farms of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.Today Cesanese maintains its “noble and ancient soul”, but the planting of new vineyards, modern winemaking techniques, the educated hand of the young producers and progress of enology have made it a wine that is beginning to appeal to a wider audience and find its place among Italy’s important red wines.
The Cesanese Wine Road in La Forma, in the Piglio DOCG (Photo by author)
The wine growing region has 2 DOCs and 1 DOCG – Cesanese d’Affile DOC, Cesanese di Olevano Romano DOC and Cesanese del Piglio DOCG.
Cesanese di Affile is the grape, a distinct sub-variety of Cesanese Comune. Its historical home is in the sub-Apenninne hills located in the central east part of Lazio and southeast of the Castelli Romani. The towns of Olevano Romano and Affile are found in the province of Rome, while Piglio is located in the province of Frosinone, an area somewhat less densely planted.
One of the readily apparent differences between Cesanese Comune and Cesanese di Affile is the size of the grape berry itself and overall, Cesanese di Affile is considered of superior quality to Comune for its structure and ability to age. The variety prefers higher elevations
Cesanese d’Affile grape bunches on the vine (Photo by Azienda Rapillo)
The varieties tend to be site specific and depending on where the vines are planted, the producers will get different results according to the soils, the expositions and various microclimates, in addition to their own styles. In winegrowing zone studies carried out in Lazio, it has been found that most of the vineyards here are located between 200 and 400 meters in altitude, in soils resulting from pyroclastic materials (volcanic deposits), lying on lower hills with gentle slope and usually facing towards the south and southwest. Cesanese of both types can be considered somewhat difficult to manage in the vineyard as it is late-ripening and if it doesn’t achieve full ripening, the resulting wines can lack body. Now about 60% of all plantings are Affile.
There are some plantings found in the area of Cori, about 45 minutes to the southwest in Lazio, that have been there for at least 50 years. The soils are different, with less limestone, which produces a wine with more perfume, freshness and minerality, but less structure. Cesanese Comune ripens more easily here, as Cori has one of the highest totals of sunlight in Italy.
Famous winemaker Andrea Franchetti planted two plots, one in Tuscany and one on Etna, of the same grape and achieved notable results in his cult classic from Tenuta di Tinoro. In general though, Cesanese doesn’t like to wander far from its home.
Affile growing region (Photo by QuattroCalici.it)
Cesanese DOC/G (Map by Savor the Harvest)
Cesanese di Affile grapes gives a ruby red wine in color with violet reflections, rather medium bodied with bright fruit, good structure and balance, moderate acidity and tannins. The aromas are red and black fruits – cherries, plums, cranberry, mulberry – with violet , rose petals and some spices, like white pepper or a hint of cinnamon. Sometimes a slightly bitter note can be found on the finish.
Ian d’Agata, the prominent Italian wine expert, says of it, “The Cesanese varieties are unquestionably capable, in competent hands, of giving very fine, perfumed, penetrating red wines…but I truly believe that the Cesaneses are capable of producing wines that one day might be viewed in the same light as those made with Nebbiolo or Aglianico.”
Cesanese is perfectly married to the cuisine of Rome, which was frequently the cucina della povera – the dishes of the poor. These are the recipes using whatever was at hand, whatever the butcher or the farmer had left over after selling his goods, to make a dinner stretch for everyone at the table. In any trattoria in Rome, you find these dishes – Amatriciana, Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, Gnocchi, Coda alla Vaccinara, Cicoria, Porchetta, Trippa and Abbachio (pork, tripe and lamb) and fried antipasti like suppli and zucchini flowers.
Twenty to thirty years ago, Cesanese wasn’t even bottled much. The producers would trek to restaurants with their demijohns and clients would find carafes of ‘local’ red wine on their tables. The emphasis then was on quantity, not quality. The Eternal City has always had a thirst equal to most everything that could be produced in its surroundings. Now, break out a bottle of Rome’s red wine with a meal and see for yourself. “When in Rome…..”
Join Vinotalia for a 1 day tour of the historic Cesanese territory. www.vino-talia.com