Italian Wine Archives

Puglia’s Negroamaro – to be discovered

I traveled to Puglia, Italy early October 2019 to attend a four-day educational tour. The Educational Tour Guagnano (Salento – Puglia – Italy) “Negroamaro Stories” was carried out with the support of the Comune di Guagnano, the Municipality of Trepuzzi, the Gal Terrad’Arneo, the Municipality of Porto Cesareo, of the National Association of AIS of Lecce, and Solento Wine Shop.

Puglia is geographically located in the south-eastern tip of Italy, covering 7,469 sqm. It is bordered by the Adriatic Sea on the east, by the Ionian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its climate is Mediterranean, with hot summer temperatures only partially mitigated with sea breezes.

On my first day I attended the Museo del Negroamaro for a press conference, which kicked off the 2019 “Stories of Negroamaro” tour. In attendance were partner organizations, participating wineries, local politicians, and artist Arianna Greco.

Conference speeches and presentations were given (in Italian) by:

Antonio Rizzo – Ass. cultura e al marketing territoriale del Comune di Guagnano;

Claudio Maria Sorrento – Sindaco del Comune di Guagnano;

Chiara Tondo – Ass. all’Agricoltura del Comune di Guagnano;

Cosimo Durante – Presidente Gal Terra d’Arneo;

Viviana D’Amico – Presidente del Comitato Tecnico Organizzativo del Premio Terre del Negroamaro; and

Titolari e Rappresentanti – Aziende Vinicole Guagnano.

The conference introduced us to the Guagnano and Terra d’Arneo area and presented grape harvest data for 2018-2019.

After the presentations and speeches, I met and mingled with Italian wine journalists, winegrowers and members of the local and regional associations, while tasting the delicious local cuisine.

After lunch, I participated in a tour of the Museo del Negroamaro. I found out that the Museum was formerly a millstone from the 1800s. It now houses antiques and antiquities from yesteryear, such as traditional presses, barrels, fermenters, weighs, pressure switches, and other tools and equipment previously used in the processing of grapes and winemaking. The Museum also houses the Negroamaro Study Center.

Over the next four days, I will be visiting eight wineries or Cantinas in Puglia and tasting their DOC and IGT wines, with a focus on the indigenous varieties Primitivo and Negroamaro. The participating wineries include: Cantele Cantele; Cantina Sociale Enotria; Vini Leuci; Feudi di Guagnano; Cantine Cosimo Taurino; Cantina Moros di Claudio Quarta; Taurino Francesco; and Tenuta Marano.

The first winery visit was Cosimo Taurino

The Taurino family have been growing grapes and making wines in Puglia for seven generations. This multi-award-winning estate owns 80 hectares of cultivated vineyards exclusively with Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera grapes, both indigenous to Salento. The Taurino’s family respect for terroir and for native grapes is inspiring, and their impact on the vinous history of Puglia is unprecedented.

Two wines that really stood out for me were:

Cosimo Taurino, Notarpanaro Salento 2010

100% Negroamaro

Tasting Notes: This wine offers complex aromas of cherries and raspberry, with some notes of wood and spice, which all come through on the palate; this medium-bodied wine has fleshy tannins and a long finish.

Cosimo Taurino, Patriglione 2013

100% Negroamaro

Tasting Notes: This wine has notes of red berries, leather, tobacco, and some traces of pepper. It’s a rich and full-bodied wine with a good balance.

Unfortunately, I could not complete the rest of the tour due to a family emergency.

What I learned in Salento….

About Negroamaro

Negroamaro is a deep, black-colored grape with taste characteristics of black currant, cherry, blackberry and cloves with some cinnamon undertones. It is almost exclusive to the Salento region (Brindisi and Lecce) and is harvested in late September.

Negroamaro is used in 13 regional Dop labels (out of 28 in Puglia) and is produced in the provinces of: Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto: Alezio, Brindisi, Copertino, Galatina, Leverano, Lizzano, Matino, Nardò, Negroamaro in Terra d’Otranto, Salice Salentino, Squinzano, and Terra d’Otranto.

Negroamaro has a high alcohol content with some floral and fruity aromas; this makes it an ideal blending wine because the aroma does not distract from other grape varieties.

The Soil

It is worth mentioning that one of the secrets to the fabulous tasting Pugliese wine is the soil. It’s dense red clay, high in iron-oxide – this provides a sweet, structured, full-bodied wine.

Over the last few years, the wines of Salento have been gaining tremendous success. The next-generation winemakers have both improved the taste and the image of the wines in this emerging wine region.

A special thank you to the municipal administrations, for organizing this wonderful trip. I’m looking forward to going back to Puglia in the near future and learning more about this up-and-coming wine region.

Liz Palmer

Prosecco harvest down 3-5%

The harvest in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore has just come to an end with yields down between 3% to 5% from last year.

“This month we have just spent on the Rive vineyards has been one of intense work,” said Consorzio president, Innocente Nardi.

Nardi said that this has been an exceptional year for the territory, “starting off with the accolade from UNESCO, but also including the fiftieth anniversary of the denomination and our ban on glyphosate, which has made us the largest wine zone in Europe to forbid the use of this well-known herbicide.”

According to a statement from the Consorzio, harvesting took place in ideal conditions. “We registered an average pH of 3.30 and acidity of 6.55, values that are ideal for the production of elegant sparkling wines,” said the statement.

After a cold winter, spring was cooler and rainier than usual, which caused a delay in bud break. This was followed by a hot summer, and the weather was fine during the harvest. The harvest began in the most easterly zone and one slopes with the most exposure to sunlight, such as the vineyards at San Pietro di Feletto.

The region’s steep slopes are difficult to harvest with machinery, and “600 to 700 hours of manual work are necessary per hectare each year”.

The wines from 2019 will be the first to take advantage of the new production regulations passed in August of this year, which allow for sui lieviti (“on the yeasts”) sparkling wines that have been refermented in the bottle, and extra brut, with residual sugar between 0 and 6g per Litre.

https://www.prosecco.it/en/prosecco-superiore-docg/

Consorzio Vini delle Venezie DOC ventures into ‘second era of Italian style Pinot Grigio’

The Consorzio Vini delle Venezie has re-elected Albino Armani(March 2019) as president and some of his priorities include the development of promotional activities and maximizing the potential of the appellation: “growth trajectory focused on continuity, to maximize the potential of a product and a region that still have a lot to say to consumers around the world”.

Accepting “the challenge”, Armani said his new board would “continue along the same path of identity, region and Italian style to drive up the value of our Pinot Grigio”.

“We are well aware of the responsibility before us; this appellation holds enormous potential just waiting to be developed. Already the conversation around this great variety has a new and different tone. It is an asset that we must defend and maximize, establishing it with a strong identity firmly grounded in Italy and in the Triveneto in particular,” he said.

The new board’s widespread regional representation includes six members representing Friuli Venezia Giulia, six members representing Trentino, and nine members representing Veneto. This board would create an alliance capable of building a widespread regional identity that can “stake its claim as the Italian Pinot Grigio benchmark on a global scale”, Armani added.
Consorzio Vini delle Venezie DOC was established in 2017 and occupies the entire northeastern part of Italy, including the territories of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto regions, and the province of Trento.

By the Numbers:
85% of Italy’s Pinot Grigio production is produced in the Triveneto area where,
in 2017, 24,500 hectares were under vine.

Prosecco receives UNESCO World Heritage status

The status was officially announced on Sunday for the Prosecco landscape, and includes Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene, and the DOCG vine growing area; “characterized by ‘hogback’ hills, ciglioni — small plots of vines on narrow grassy terraces — forests, small villages, and farmland,” states UNESCO.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, met in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday to congratulate Italy and its Veneto Prosecco region.

The campaign to nominate Prosecco started in 2008, and Italy’s National Commission for UNESCO officially gave its support January 2017. The application included submitting a 1,300-page dossier.

‘For centuries, this rugged terrain has been shaped and adapted by man.’
In particular, the training of vines since the 17th century has helped contribute to the unique aesthetics of the landscape.

This region spans over 500 towns, with 15 towns producing Prosecco Superiore DOCG – the top-quality bubbly produced.

Italy has more UNESCO sites than any other country in the world, with a total of 55.
Some wine regions, including Barolo and Pantelleria, with seven UNESCO sites in Tuscany.

Sales of Prosecco rose six percent in 2018 to 460 million bottles, of which 75 percent were exported.

Official UNESCO details:
N45 57 10.9 E12 13 34
Date of Inscription: 2019
Property : 20,334.2 ha
Buffer zone: 43,988.2 ha
Ref: 1571rev
Full description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1571/

Soave Adopts Cru System

After a lengthy process that started a number of years ago, the Soave DOC has officially adopted a hierarchical, Burgundian-style classification system, where ‘cru’ sites sit at the top of the quality spectrum.

The new DOC regulations will feature 33 distinct cru areas that have been selected for their potential to yield grapes of superior nature.

As of next vintage, these are the crus (officially called Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive) you will find on Soave labels:

Castelcerino, Colombara Froscà, Fittà, Foscarino, Volpare, Tremenalto, Carbonare, Tenda, Corte Durlo, Rugate, Croce, Costalunga, Coste, Zoppega, Menini, Monte Grande, Ca’ del Vento, Castellaro, Pressoni, Broia, Brognoligo, Costalta, Paradiso, Costeggiola, Casarsa, Monte di Colognola, Campagnola, Pigno, Duello, Sengialta, Ponsarà, Roncà – Monte Calvarina.

Most of the crus, whose vineyard area covers 40% of the appellation, are found on Soave’s hillsides, with 29 out of 33 located within the prized Soave Classico area.

The selection process, which started back in 2000, involved a number of factors that affect fruit quality, including altitude and gradient of the hills as well as training system.

‘The approval of the crus is another great step forward for our appellation,’ commented Aldo Lorenzoni, director of the Consorzio di Tutela del Soave. ‘The place of origin of the grapes has always been a crucial part of our communication strategy.’