Negroamaro wine from Puglia and Salento

Negroamaro is a black grape grown mainly in Salento, the southern part of Puglia with the provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto. There it is the most important red grape of the appellations.

You come across the name in two ways: as a grape on the label of a varietal wine, or as the main component of a blend named after the area, such as a Salice Salentino Rosso. Bottles sometimes also carry the spelling Negro Amaro. Winemakers also combine the grape with other red varieties, such as Malvasia Nera.

The best known is Salice Salentino DOC, recognised in 1976. The area lies around Salice Salentino, Veglie and Guagnano in the province of Lecce and around San Pancrazio Salentino and Sandonaci in the province of Brindisi, with some 1,665 hectares of vineyard. If Negroamaro is named as the grape on a Salice Salentino, the wine contains at least 90 percent Negroamaro. A Riserva matures for at least 24 months, of which at least six months in wooden casks.

In addition there is Salento IGT (since 1995, provinces of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto) and the broader Puglia IGT (since 1995, the whole region). For both IGTs, a wine with a single grape name on the label must consist of at least 85 percent of that grape.

Yes, Salento has a long rosé tradition and Negroamaro is central to it. Salice Salentino DOC has a rosato alongside red, and Salento IGT and Puglia IGT allow rosato from Negroamaro.

A well-known benchmark is Five Roses from the house of Leone de Castris in Salice Salentino. That wine is regarded as the first bottled Italian rosato, made in 1943, then largely from Negroamaro with the rest Malvasia Nera.

They are two different grape varieties that both grow in Puglia. Negroamaro belongs mainly in Salento, the south of the region. Primitivo is genetically the same grape as California's Zinfandel and the Croatian Crljenak Kaštelanski; researchers from UC Davis and Croatian scientists showed this with DNA research in 2001.

On the label you often see Negroamaro Primitivo or the other way round. With Salento IGT and Puglia IGT a wine with two grape names may be made if the main grape makes up between 50 and 85 percent and the second grape between 15 and 50 percent.

Appassimento is the Italian term for drying grapes after they have been picked. The grapes lose water, which concentrates sugar and other substances before fermentation starts. The method is known from Veneto, where Amarone is made this way.

Appassimento is not an appellation itself but a method. In Puglia you usually find such wines under Puglia IGT or Salento IGT. Those rules also have separate categories for Rosso Passito and for wine from overripe grapes. So read above all what is written next to the appellation on the label.

In the shop at the Brink there are bottles from Puglia and Salento. From Epicuro you will find, among others, the Epicuro Negroamaro, the Epicuro Appassite, the Epicuro Cuvée Rosso di Puglia and the Epicuro Rosato. From Rocca Grande the Passolo Rosso Salento is on the shelf.

Torn between red and rosé, or between negroamaro and primitivo? We are happy to think along with you, for example for a dish from Southern Italian cuisine. Drop by at Brink 2 in Bathmen or call us on 0570 541 278.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.