Stella Rosso

Stella Rosso: Though not a great fit for lovers of dry wine, this semi-sweet red wine — best served chilled — is the next white zinfandel, opening up massive new demographics for the wine industry, particularly the urban and minority markets.

That’s especially true in Southern California, as this wine — made in the Italian village of Santa Stefano Belbo in Piedmont — is a product of the Riboli family’s San Antonio Winery, a downtown L.A. producer since 1917.

When they asked loyal consumers of their Stella Rosa line of moscatos what they wanted, the response was something sweet but red, so the Ribolis and their Italian partners developed this entirely new category of wine.

The soaring popularity already trigged a copycat legal case against a corporate winery, and is spinning off an entire series of accompanying bottlings, from drier proseccos to bolder reds to whites and pinks flavored with berry and peach.

See stellarosawines.com.