The story of Stella Rosa is a long one and begins over a hundred years ago.
In 1917 the Riboli family founded Los Angeles’ San Antonio Winery, which still thrives to this day, and primarily produces sweet red wines which are soft and easy to drink.
The winery survived prohibition and, in modern times, has begun to cater to the growing desire for light, sweet, flavored wines, which have been booming in the modern market.
While the winery itself is situated in California, they use true-to-form Italian grapes, which are sourced primarily from the Piedmont region, which is situated in Northern Italy.
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Stella Rosa Stella Black Review
Stella Rosa launched their Stella Black label as one of the brand’s original offerings, meaning that it predates many of the fruit-flavored wines for which they are primarily known.
Their wines are not very strong, generally sitting right around 5% alcohol by volume, which makes them crushable and easy-drinking options with wide appeal internationally.
I have personally sold tons of this particular bottle to customers of mine who were looking to stock up for weddings, bachelorette parties, and get-togethers of all kinds.
Stella Rosa Stella Black Summary
- Brand: Stella Rosa
- Country: California / Italy (see above)
- Region: Asti, in the Piedmont region
- Wine Type: Dessert Wine
- Varietals: Undisclosed blend (Brachetto-based)
- ABV: 5%
Appearance
The wine is a vibrant garnet color in the glass and has a nice effervescence to it.
Not full-on carbonation, mind you, but just a bit of bubble to give it a pretty look and some texture. Legs on this wine are pretty much non-existent, given how light it is.
Smell
The wine features an absolute boatload of dark fruit on the nose.
Raspberries, black cherries, overripe blueberries, and plums stick out among the medley. There is also a bit of bright raspberry playing in the mix.
There is an unmistakable sweetness on the nose that lets you know what you are getting into before your first sip.
Taste
The taste of the wine follows the aromatics pretty much step by step.
Intense notes of maraschino cherries, stewed plum, juicy raspberries, and blueberry compote create a sense of incredible opulence here.
There is a pretty substantial amount of residual sugar here, but the carbonation helps to offset it to a degree.
Thankfully the wine comes across as more of a juicy, fruity sort of sweet rather than as a saccharine, syrupy mess. Overall I would call this wine incredibly drinkable.
What Does Stella Rosa Stella Black Pair With?
The Stella Rosa website actually has an official list of pairings posted, including “Fresh Havarti and Manchego cheeses, blue cheese-stuffed hamburgers, bratwurst bathed in beer, dark chocolate soufflé, black walnut ice cream.”
Those are all some pretty tasty options that I can get behind.
That said, I would personally go for something a bit more in line with the flavor profile of the wine itself.
Fresh fruit salad, cheesecake topped with raspberry compote, and cherry pie all spring to mind as options to help you bring out the already present fruity characteristics of this wine.
What Are Wines That Are Similar to Stella Rosa Stella Black?
There are a plethora of flavored wines from the Stella Rosa brand, which you could try, but I won’t go into detail listing them all.
There is a flavor out there for pretty much everyone.
Outside of Stella Rosa, I would recommend trying out some other sweet reds. Riunite and other sweeter styles of Lambrusco would fill this niche pretty well.
I also highly recommend trying 100% Brachetto options from Italy.
They are typically sweet, carbonated, and easy to drink, with lots of the red fruit flavors that people love from Stella Black also present.
Final Thoughts
As with a lot of sweeter wines, this is not for everyone.
This bottle is, however, great for people looking for sweet, juicy, easy-drinking options with no discernible tannin or acid.