NV Sommariva Brut Rosato
Pairs with: Classic Venetian baccalà mantecato (creamy whipped salt cod) spread on grilled polenta, crispy fritto misto (fried calamari and rock shrimp), a casual charcuterie board featuring salty prosciutto, or a fresh fruit tart topped with pastry cream.
Good for: Swapping out your usual Prosecco for a pink sparkler with significantly more structural pop, keeping a permanent "emergency bottle" chilled in the fridge door for impromptu hosting, or introducing friends to an off-the-beaten-path native Italian variety.
Grape: 60% Raboso, 40% Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir).
I am from: Veneto, Italy (Sourced from steep, south-facing hillside vineyards in Conegliano, sitting just outside the historic Prosecco Superiore DOCG zone).
The Story: Run today by the exceptionally talented Cinzia Sommariva, this artisanal family estate is nestled in the breathtaking, pre-Alpine slopes of Conegliano, roughly an hour north of Venice. For generations, the family worked the land, but it was Cinzia's father, Caterino, who had the visionary foresight to buy up steep, south-facing hillside parcels when most others were still farming the flat plains. The estate's full name, Palazzo Rosso (Red Palace), is a direct nod to the distinctively warm, iron-rich red clay and rocky soils of their property. While globally beloved for their pristine Proseccos made from the Glera grape, Cinzia wanted to craft a sparkling rosé with a completely distinct, non-Prosecco personality. To do this, she turned to Raboso, a rustic, ancient native variety of Treviso prized for its deep color and fierce, mouthwatering acidity. By blending this wild local grape with the aristocratic elegance of Pinot Nero, she crafts the "Il Rosa" cuvée using a careful, temperature-controlled Charmat method in stainless steel to block malolactic conversion. It is an intentional approach that yields a bottle so consistently joyful and reliable that legendary importer Kermit Lynch directly states it deserves "a permanent space in your fridge."
Why You'll Love Me: It is crisp, brilliantly vibrant, and delightfully dry, completely rewriting the script on mass-market sparkling rosés with its high-toned mountain energy and fine, persistent bubbles. In the glass, it pours an elegant, luminous antique rose-pink color. The nose is aromatically explosive and highly inviting, bursting with a fresh basket of red currants, marasca cherries, and wild strawberries, seamlessly interwoven with a floral top note of crushed violets and a zesty twist of red grapefruit. On the palate, it hits with a beautifully lean, light-bodied frame and a completely refreshing, low-alcohol lift. The natural, electric acidity of the Raboso grape is effortlessly balanced by the velvety, plush fruit weight of the Pinot Nero, allowing the crunchy red berry flavors to dance across the tongue before sailing into a remarkably clean, focused, and utterly revitalizing finish.
