Episode 152: Power to the Grape Gab & Negroamaro
March’s grape gab is about the Negroamaro grape from the wine region of Puglia, Italy. The name translates to “black bitter” but don’t let that scare you away. The wine made from these grapes is often approachable, affordable and quite quaffable young. This episode goes from zero to 12.5 (and that’s just the names of the wines!) in 23 minutes, and includes a new “Tasty Tales” segment to add to the not-so-bitter conversation.
In the Glasses This Week (1:16)
Steph: No. Zero “Numero 0” by Menhir Salento, 2012, IGP Salento. It is made from estate grown Negroamaro grapes and costs $12.50.
Val: 12 e Mezzo, 2014 Negroamaro del Salento, Puglia, Italia. The producer is Cosimo Vervaglione’s Vigne e Vini. We suspect the “dodici e mezzo,” which means 12 and a half, is referring to the alcohol content? Salento is a demarcated region in Puglia, which is one of the 21 wine-producing regions in Italy. (~$14.99)
Grape Gab About Negroamaro
What it is (3:56)
Negroamaro is a dark, thick skinned, red Italian grape with black-violet skin, capable of producing high alcohol wines with medium-high tannins. That deep color means it is also rich in polyphenols and anthocyanins. This ancient vine from Italy is vigorous, adaptable and drought resistant. This is one bad-ass, mildew-resistant late ripener, but there is an earlier-ripening version that was documented in the mid-1990s called Negroamaro Precoce; this clone is said to ripen nearly three weeks earlier!
Black and Bitter by any other name (5:59)
First let’s explain the name. Negro Amaro means “black bitter” in Italian, although there’s a possibility it might mean “black black” from the Latin word Nigra and the Greek word Mavro.
Synonyms include: Albese, Nero Amaro, Abruzzese, Jonico, Niurumaru, Uva cane (dog grape?), Uva Olivella, Lacrima (tear?), Nero leccese, Nicra amaro, Mangia verde plus many others.
Where it grows (6:44)
Well we already mentioned Negroamaro’s home is Italy, but it is worth noting that the grape’s origins are uncertain and probably came from Greece to Italy in the 6th – 8th Century BC, depending on your source.
Negroamaro is one of the star grapes in Puglia/Apulia, the sunny, dry, flat heel of Southern Italy.
It is also grown in small amounts in Australia and California, places like Temecula and Mendocino County.
But back to the boot. Puglia’s Salento Peninsula works wonders for Negroamaro because the grapes soak up all the sunshine and benefit from the cooling winds from the surrounding Ionia and Adriatic seas. Sounds pretty nice!
Negroamaro is blended into countless regional DOC and IGT wines, so many that you don’t want us to read the entire list to you. It is most known for its contribution to Salice Salentino, the DOC established back in 1976.
What Negroamaro does in the glass (8:32)
This is a grape with earthy personality and juicy character and expresses itself with notes of dark berries, tobacco, herbal spices and black pepper. The experience in the glass is truly dependant on the style and age of the wine, as Negroamaro is used to make reds, rosés and sparkling. Its bitter earthiness and high alcohol are what make it such a good blending buddy, and why Malvasia Nera’s beautiful aromatics is one of its favorite partners.
Although you might often see Negroamaro single varietal bottlings or blends in the $9-$19 range, there are some examples that get up to $90. They are not all created equal.
OOH – and here’s a sweet factoid about pink wine from the black bitter: according to vinipuglia.com, it was the Negroamaro that produced the first rose’ (or rosato) bottled in Italy in 1943!
Tasty Tales (11:46)
We’re introducing a new segment where listeners contribute stories to an upcoming episode. We put out a request in the Wine Two Five Facebook Community, and some of you have kindly obliged!
The first submission is by Sue Guerra of Via del Vino Tours (www.viadelvino.com) based in Perugia, Italy. Steph connected with Sue through our guest Jeremy Parzen who was a guest back in Episode 68.
Sue’s tale (12:29)
My Negroamaro experience took place at “The Source” so to speak—specifically the Salento, which could be considered the motherland of this grape. I was escorting a group of Americans on a tour of Puglia, a special region for me given that my grandfather was from there. The story is really about drinking this wine at the source and enjoying a true Puglian experience. With the group, we spent the day in Lecce, a city that many travel writers call the Florence of the South due to its abundance of Baroque architecture.
We toured the city, visited a local paper maché atelier (a special art there) and did a cooking and mozzarella making class at a local cooking school—preparing our own lunch and then later our own dinner. It was one of those fabulous, perfect weather days with so much going on and so much fun that I really wasn’t that focused on the wines we were sipping for lunch or dinner—though I did take a photo of each bottle, which is something I only do when I notice the quality and want to later research the wines.For lunch we drank a Negroamaro based rosé called Rosa del Golfo Salento Rosato 2015 (90% Negroamaro and 10% Malvasia Nera Leccese), which I later found out had received high praise on Vinuous.com’s yearly round up of top Italian rosés.
And then the wine …
The real magic of the day however was our dinner. We ate in the back garden area of the cooking school, feasting on what we had prepared in our class while being treated to a “Pizzica Dance” performed for us by locals. The Pizzica is the typical folkdance of the Salento region of Puglia. Earlier in the day, the wife of one of the paper maché artists had explained to us the historical significance of the dance, which was invented by women to show their desire to be free from the oppression of a strict and patriarchal culture. It was performed as a means to vent the madness caused by this oppression. So we could maybe call it an ancient #MeToo movement!
As we ate the food we prepared, then watched and also danced along, generous amounts of Negroamaro flowed into our glasses and veins! For dinner we drank Cantina San Donaci Anticaia Brindisi Negroamaro DOP. Basically the same blend as the rosé but a red wine with delicious prune and cherry fruit, good acidity and nice structure. It was a day to remember for sure! Here is a short video of the Pizzica Dance taken before we all got into the action:
Katarina’s Tale (16:00)
(Katarina of Grapevine Adventures, who lives in Florence, Italy and was a guest in episode 62)
So I have been drinking Negroamaro before but I never really had much of an opinion about other than that it is a native grape and wine from Puglia. Sometimes I found it a bit tart…acid… or bitter.
When I went to Puglia last year, invited for the Radici del sud event, I got a full immersion in Negroamaro, Primitivo, Nero di Troia wines and much more. We learned at a vertical tasting of Nero IGP Salento Rosso from Conti Zecca, that Negroamaro often has a high acidity and a bit ‘nervous’ tannins and that it, therefore, fits better as a blend. Here it is blended with Cabernet.
This all helped me for the last 2 days when I was part of the jury tasting through some more than hundred of wines. We were a fun group in our jury group with a mix of journalists and one producer/oenologist.
I was sitting in between two fun guys, an Italian/British guy and the owner of Apollonio winery in Salento. We started tasting through the wines and in the beginning, I felt a bit intimidated and shy thinking OMG they will surely notice I am not as experienced as them. LOL
Warming up to the wine guy
So, I was looking to the two guys next to me for support…the Apollonio guy being quite ‘hot’ too (he will surely never hear this LOL)…
…so while tasting through I do not know how many Negroamaro wines and other wines…I started with knocking one of my glasses over so the wine poured over his place mat and the tablecloth, then I wanted to empty the little spittoon each of us had a while later…of course missing the large spittoon…so again a part of the wine landed over his place mat with his glasses…and on like that it went. He tried restlessly to dry it all up with napkins…
At a certain point, he turned and smiled at me and said…I am not sure if I dare remain seated here of if I should go and take a seat at the other side of the table…
I looked at him embarrassed…but then we both burst out laughing…
When I needed to write an article about Puglia for the #Italianfwt group, I asked if he could send me some wines…he sent 2 cases!! And he produces some darn good Negroamaro wines, for ex. this Apollonio Divoto Riserva wine
Shoutouts (19:45)
Our first Riserva Superiore Supporter is Robin Salls of Girls Gone Grape, you may remember her from Episode 106.
Robin Salls, Founder/President of Girls Gone Grape, Inc. is a passionate entrepreneur, publisher, author, event planner and wine lover who’s bringing women, wine and adventures together to inspire creativity, connection and support. Women inspiring women. She’s sipping her way through life creating “La Dolce Vita”, A beautiful life, on her terms; wine, food, family, friends, adventures. She’s sharing her passions through Girls Gone Grape Events, The Girls Gone Grape Sip On Life Magazine and her book, “Girls Gone Grape – The 5 Varietals of Girlfriends you Need in Your Wine Pack”.
We are excited that so many of you dig what she’s doing over there at the triple G and have reached out to her. So we are shouting out to you for getting involved and to Robin for becoming part of the Patreon Pack. Welcome to the team, Robin and Girls Gone Grape!
Patreon Love (21:15)
Thank you to our Patrons who support us on the crowdfunding platform called Patreon!
“Riserva Superiore Supporter”
- Robin Salls from Girls Gone Grape
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- Jeff E from the We Like Drinking podcast
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- David in Scotland
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Connect: (22:49)
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