Stella Rosa Black Cherry Semi-Sweet Italian Red Wine

The lowest we saw for this bottle was $12.99 in our September 2026 checks. Before reaching for it, though, it helps to read what the name does and does not promise.

"Black Cherry" is the flavor the listing leads with, a description rather than a grape; no variety is actually named. "Semi-Sweet" is the useful part, since it settles the sweetness question. "Italian Red" sounds specific but only gives the country, and a wine that says just "Italy" could come from almost anywhere in it. The 9 shoppers who rated it were happy enough, landing at 4.78 out of five, though a score cannot fill in a grape or a place.

The price is not settled either. One store wanted $18.99 for the same bottle by August 12, 2026, so where it is bought matters here. As for the origin, our Italy guide is plain that the country stretches from northern mountains to southern islands, and that a narrower name, a DOC, DOCG or IGT, would tie this wine to a particular place and its rules; a producer's own account could also name the place, and none has reached our record.

If sweetness is what you are after, the name settles that much before you reach the register. It stops short of naming the grape or the corner of Italy behind it, and we have not confirmed who makes it. So the real question is whether a semi-sweet red at this price is enough on its own, or whether the blanks the name leaves are ones worth filling first.

Stella Rosa's own product page fills in two of those blanks. The wine is made from brachetto grapes, a variety the store listing's flavor name never mentions, and the maker is San Antonio Winery, the Los Angeles company whose own brand history traces Stella Rosa to Maddalena Riboli's home region of Asti, in Italy's Piedmont. The producer's tasting note calls out “fresh, juicy black cherries,” its own words, in a wine finished at 5 percent alcohol. The page also states the wine is gluten-free and vegan; whether it is free of animal byproducts used elsewhere in winemaking is not settled, since the brand's FAQ names other flavors in that list but not this one.

Our call: this suits the shopper whose only requirement is a semi-sweet red, now that the producer's own page names both the grape, brachetto, and the maker, San Antonio Winery. The few scores gathered so far lean above the middle of the rated wines we cover, which is a start rather than a record; pass if you want a specific Italian place name behind the wine, since the listing's own region claim stops at Italy, or if an unconfirmed byproduct-free status matters to you.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.