Although Americans probably associate Italy more with red wines than any other — at least until pinot grigio became so popular — many regions of Italy produced mostly whites, and at least two traditionally made and drank a lot of rosé.

In Puglia, the heel of Italy, they made rosato, as it’s called in Italian, and drink it with the region’s abundant seafood. These dry rosés are made from a number of grapes including negro amaro and primitive, two of the area’s signature grapes. Primitivo is a twin sister of zinfandel, in fact, so you could say they were drinking “white” zin long before the Trincheros popularized it here.

The real center for rosés, however, is Abruzzo, on the central Adriatic Coast. There the star is Cerasuolo, a cherry-hued rosé of the montepulciano d’Abruzzo grape.

Abruzzo also has a long coast line, and people traditionally drank the wine with seafood and antipasti — including pork sausage — as they didn’t produce much white.

Cerasuolo ranges in color from light pink to almost red, and all I tasted on a recent trip were lip-smackingly good on a warm day before or with the indigenous food — mostly pasta, seafood and vegetables. By the way, there are reds from the south called Cerasuolo, too.

Interestingly, on another visit by wine writers four years ago, the producers literally hid the rosé away, saying Americans weren’t interested; we discovered it by accident when the mayor of a coastal town offered it to us at our first celebratory seafood dinner.

On the recent visit, however, almost every producer proudly featured his — or her — Cerasuolo.

In fact, winemaker Giulio Vecchio at Villa Real in Abruzzo noted, “In the old days, the red wine was probably closer to a Cerasuolo than the deep reds we make now. They couldn’t ripen the grapes properly.”

With modern techniques, this is no longer an issue.

The wines aren’t just summer quaffers, either, but have color, flavor, structure and tannins. “It’s the red wine for summer,” says Vecchio.

Rosés are also having a huge rebirth — or birth — elsewhere, even in central Tuscany, where big red Chianti Classico is as much a part of the culture as big red cabernet is in Napa.

Sangiovese, the main red grape of central Italy. makes an excellent rosato; in fact, it’s sometime a bit deficient in color as a red wine, one reason winemakers in Tuscany learned years ago that adding some other grapes could intensify the color.

Many old-style Chiantis were rather light wines, and today’s Chianti Classicos aren’t but are often massive. As a result, visitors often prefer rosés with appetizers and fish, particularly in hot weather.

The market for rosés is huge, too, particularly in Northern Europe, which some Italian producers attribute partly to the warming climate.

Other parts of Italy also make rosés, notably Sicily and its giant Regaleali estate.

On our last night in Italy recently, we dined with a producer from Basilicata in southern Italy, which is best known for massive, tannic aglianico wines.

Gerardo Giuratrabocchetti of biodynamically farmed Cantine del Notaio poured both delightful still and sparkling agliagnicos before the typical wine from his Vulture region.

And no discussion of Italian rosés should forget that the ubiquitous pinot grigio (“gray”) comes from a pink grape, just as Italians refer to dark red wines as “black” (nero). 

If fermented on its skins like a typical red grape, the wine is pink. Most producers of pinot grigio are very careful to remove any color, many using charcoal filtering.

Trader Joe’s sells at least one pink pinot grigio – and it’s a tiny bit sparkling (frizzante) to boot, perfect for summer.

So the next time you see an Italian rosato, give it a try. I personally find them more flavorful than the French rosés — and a number of California producers are making rosés of Italian varieties, too. Benessere’s is one of the best.