When the weather is warm and meals tend to be lighter, many wine-lovers opt for a chilled glass of rosé. Although rosé wines are produced in different countries around the world (including the U.S), we commonly associate them with the south of France. That was—before we visited Puglia, an epicenter of pink wine production. Before that, we didn’t even know that Italy produces an esteemed rosé of its own, which is called rosato (pl. rosati).

I recently attended an event sponsored by the AICNY (the association of Italian chefs in New York) and Puglia in Rosé (the association of pink wine producers in Puglia), scheduled to coincide with the Specialty Food Show. Held at the Scavolini Show Room in New York City, five AICNY chefs prepared Pugliese (Apulian) recipes paired with the most famous wines of the region, such as Primitivo, Nero di Troia and others.