Varietal Character

Aleatico

Your style could be described as 'Avant Guard',
or at the least very orginal. Ms. Aleatico, your
colorful red costumes and wild perfumed scent,
might be a little too forward for most of your
conservative neighbours in the southern Italian
hills. Hopefully, your unique character will catch
on in California, where your individuality could be
interpreted as 'European Chic'.

Appellations producing the most Aleatico wines:

Cucamonga Valley (AVA)

Sonoma Valley (AVA)

Aleatico

Limited plantings of this minor red wine variety are found in warmer areas of California and Australia. Aleatico is more commonly grown in the Apulia and Abruzzo regions of southern and central Italy, on the islands of Elba and Corsica and occasionally further north in the central regions of Umbria and Tuscany. Aleatico has a strong Muscat, grape-like aroma, and is typically used to produce sweet red wines. Some believe that it is somehow related to Muscat of Alexandria, while others consider Sangiovese to be the more logical ancestor. However, DNA evaluation has not conclusively proven its lineage. There a scattering of acres of Aleatico in California. Given many red wine drinkers aversion to sweet wines, Aleatico is likely to live in relative obscurity in North America.