"Literally 'black bitter'; Apulian red grape with high quality potential. See Alezio, Brindisi, Copertino, and Salice Salentino" - Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2008, p. 104.
"Savoury, ageworthy, strong red of Negroamaro from the heel of Italy. Look for CS's Riserva and Masseria Monaci, esp. new barrel-aged Le Braci" - ibid, p. 95.
"Resonant but clean and quenching red from Negroamaro grapes. Riserva after 2 years. Top makers: Apollonio, Candido, Castello Monaci, Due Palme, Resya, Tornavento, Taurino, Valle dell'Asso." - ibid, p. 108.
California is going nuts for Italian red varietals. Barbera has been grown for ages, but now people are experimenting with the great Sangiovese and Nebbiolo grapes as well. This is as it should be. But there's even more activity, with people growing Dolcetto, Refosco, and Aglianico. Of these, only Aglianico is particularly associated with southern Italy. But most of California is a hot growing area. Southern Italy, including Apulia, is a hot growing area. If you're a California winery looking for something off the beaten track, why head north when you can head south?
Negroamaro produces some of the tastiest, most bargain worthy wines in the world. I can personally vouch for the Salice Salentino of Dr. Cosimo Taurino, the Copertino Riserva of Cantina Sociale Cooperativa, the Squinzano of Villa Mottura. These wines are generally blended with Malvasia Nera, often in an 80/20 combination. My local wine store tells me that the Galatina Rosso 1997 from Valle dell'Asso is a blend of Negroamaro and Primitivo, which tastes right to me.
Despite the warm weather location, Negroamaro is not just another fruity face. There is a leatheriness to the wines that you often see in European wines, though usually from cooler climes. It also has some of the spice of a Zinfandel, though not the intense berry flavors. Producers like Taurino wine with great soul from it - wine that tastes good down to your toes. Taurino's Patriglione wine is the most profound, deep, and complex version that I have encountered, and well worth the extra expense. Negroamaro should be capable of amazingly enjoyable wines here in California, and great ones too, if ever given a chance.
Perhaps the most promising Negroamaro wine from Puglia these days is one on the opposite end of the price spectrum from Patriglione. Mark Hanson's fabulous Promessa from Puglia is inexpensive, but very different from more traditional Puglian wines. The wine has the fresher fruitiness you might expect given that the winemaker is an American. But it still has great depth of flavor and fine finish. Not as complex as a Patriglione, but perhaps more attuned to the American palate than the more traditional DOC wines. Hanson describes Negroamaro as "a cross between the fruitiness of Zinfandel and the silky smoothness of Pinot Noir." His wine makes an excellent case for that interpretation.
I hope to add more links to the wonderful world of Negroamaro here - both the fine wines it makes in Italy and its vastly overlooked potential for California. For a long time it looked like nobody was currently growing Negroamaro as a varietal in California. The only time I could recall ever seeing it in California, even in a blend, was in Bonny Doon's "Tutti Frutti" combination of 33 grape varieties produced for DEWN many years ago.
The good news is that at long last, Chiarito Vineyard has released California's first varietal negroamaro with its 2003 vintage. The bad news is that at an absurd 15.3% alcohol level, it seems an unpromising beginning. Hopefully future vintages will move into table wine territory.
C'mon, Bonny Doon! Montevina! Fratelli Perata! Mosby! You're doing great pioneering work in other Italian varietals. Give Negro Amaro a chance!
Copyright © 2008 by Michael Good and JoAnn Close.
Last updated January 2, 2008.