Fantini Calalenta Rosato 2025
£13.45
The wine
Pale pink, with fresh strawberries, watermelon and pink grapefruit alongside hints of rose petal. Delicate on the palate.
Calalenta is made from Montepulciano, which gives colour readily, so the skins are left in only briefly to keep the wine this pale. The vineyards sit between 70 and 200 metres with west and south-west exposures. Fantini is the flagship label of the Farnese group, founded by Valentino Sciotti in 1994 to make serious wine from Abruzzo and, later, the Italian south more widely.
The producer
Fantini
View all Fantini winesFantini is the flagship range of Farnese Vini, one of southern Italy's great success stories, based in the coastal hills of Abruzzo. From humble beginnings the winery has become a byword for sun-filled southern Italian wines of remarkable value. Its reputation rests on native grapes, grown across Abruzzo, Puglia and beyond.
Abruzzo is a wild, mountainous region where vineyards run from the Apennines almost to the Adriatic. The warm days and cooling altitude give ripe yet balanced fruit. Fantini champions the local varieties that thrive here, Montepulciano and Trebbiano above all.
The range spans everyday Montepulciano and Trebbiano, the barrel-aged Colline Teramane, crisp Pecorino whites and the celebrated Edizione Cinque Autoctoni, a bold blend of five native grapes. There are sparkling cuvées too, from Abruzzo and Basilicata. Each shows generous fruit and southern warmth.
Fantini has won a devoted following for delivering flavour and character at every price. The wines are ripe, welcoming and endlessly drinkable. They capture the sunshine of southern Italy in a glass.
