Cesanese di Olevano Romano is a red-wine DOC of the Lazio wine region in central western Italy. Conforming to the naming pattern established by many other Italian DOC titles, Cesanese di Olevano Romano wines are made from Cesanese grapes grown in and around the commune of Olevano Romano. Parts of neighboring Genazzano are also permitted to produce these wines.
The Cesanese grapes used to make these red wines can be any combination of Cesanese Comune and Cesanese di Affile, the latter of which gives its name to the Cesanese di Affile DOC based in Affile, the next village along from Olevano Romano. These are two of Lazio's three Cesanese appellations: the third is the Cesanese del Piglio DOCG, which, like Olevano Romano, unites the two kinds of Cesanese. Piglio is located just 6.5 miles (10km) west of Olevano as the crow flies.
All these villages are located 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.
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 detail.
