Cesanese di Affile is a red-wine DOC of the Lazio wine region in central western Italy. Conforming to the naming pattern of so many Italian DOC titles, Cesanese di Affile wines are made from Cesanese grapes grown in and around the commune of Affile.
All vineyards in Roiate (a village just a stone's throw west of Affile) also qualify for the Cesanese di Affile title, as do a specified subset of vineyards in Arcinazzo, less than a mile away to the east. These villages lie to the east of Rome, in the foothills of the central Apennines. Their production area, which is the epicenter of Cesanese grape cultivation, straddles the boundary between the Frosinone and Roma provinces.
The Cesanese grapes used to make red wines can be either Cesanese Comune or the Cesanese di Affile grape variety from which the DOC gets its name. They may also be a blend of the two: the same rules apply to Cesanese di Olevano Romano wines. The Cesanese del Piglio, which earned a promotion to DOCG status (Lazio's first) in 2008, is based less than five miles (8km) south-east of Affile, and employs the larger-berried Cesanese Comune for its red wines.
The Cesanese di Affile DOC stands out immediately from others in Lazio, whose declining wine production remains firmly focused on white wines produced from Malvasia Bianca and Trebbiano. Not only is it entirely focused on red wines, but its smaller yields and quality-focused producers here in the hills are a far cry from the flatter coastal DOCs to the west and that of Lazio's most famous wine, Frascati.
If the similarities and differences between the Cesanese grapes and the Cesanese DOCs seem confusing, they pale in comparison with the baffling legal and commercial wranglings over the name Montepulciano. See the Montepulciano grape variety description for more details.
