i. Biography
In Collecorvino, the work is anchored in Abruzzo ground, mountain terroir, and altitude. At Contesa, founded by Rocco Pasetti in 2001, the wines are built with minimal intervention toward a style that reads modern and easy to drink without losing substance.
The Estate
At Contesa in Collecorvino, Rocco Pasetti works as winemaker with a clear emphasis on farming mountain terroir at altitude and keeping the hand light in the cellar. The estate’s identity is set by restraint: fruit and site are handled without forcing them into a heavier frame. Before founding the project in 2001, he served as director of one of Abruzzo’s prominent cooperatives. That background gives the independent work a practical base, linking cellar choices to the agricultural culture of the region rather than to fashion alone. He also spent part of his earlier career as winemaker at Roxan co-operative in Rosciano. Read against the later founding of Contesa, that move marks the shift from cooperative production to a personal label shaped around altitude, substance, and drinkability.
In the Cellar
The cellar language around Pasetti’s wines is plain: modern and easy to drink, but still carrying real substance. The balance matters, because ease can flatten into simplicity; here, the stated aim keeps freshness and accessibility tied to depth. Minimal intervention is the clearest technical principle attached to the work. Rather than presenting winemaking as a display of technique, Pasetti’s approach is framed around farming, altitude, and a lighter hand in the passage from mountain terroir to finished wine. The result is described less through grape varieties or named cuvées than through a governing style. These are wines meant to stay approachable while still holding enough structure and presence to reflect where they come from.
The Bottlings
The signature of Pasetti’s bottlings sits in the tension between easy drinking and substance. That is the core promise of the work at Contesa: wines that do not need weight to feel complete. His craft is tied to mountain terroir at altitude, farmed with minimal intervention. That gives the bottlings their organizing idea from the vineyard outward, and keeps the focus on the relationship between place, farming, and a modern sense of drinkability. Abruzzo remains the wider frame for the story. Pasetti’s path runs from cooperative experience to the 2001 founding of his own project, with Collecorvino as the point where that experience becomes a personal winemaking language.
Signature
Rocco's signature wines include Vigna Corvino Pecorino, Vigna Corvino Montepulciano, Contesa Trentanotti, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC, Contesa Abruzzo Pecorino, and Caparrone Ceresuolo d'Abruzzo.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Rocco
What is Rocco Pasetti's current role?
As of 2026, Rocco Pasetti is Winemaker.
What is Rocco Pasetti known for?
Modern and easy to drink, yet wines of real substance.
