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The Negro Amaro Grape


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About Negro Amaro

(Synonyms: Abruzzese, Albese, Jonico, Lacrima, Negroamaro, Nigroamaro, Purcinara, Uva Olivella)

Background

Map showing the Puglia (Apulia) region of Italy

Negro Amaro is a red-wine grape originating in the Puglia region of southern Italy, most notably in the Salento area. It may have been brought to the region as early as the 7th century B.C. from Illyria (a region, and people, then located in the western Balkans). Though the grape (and wine) are often written as one word, Negroamaro, the proper name of both is two words, Negro Amaro, and that’s what we call it here.

Nowadays, Negro Amaro is an important grape of the region; it is sometimes bottled as a monovarietal, but is more often found as the dominant ingredient in regional red blends (such as Salice Salentino), along with Malvasia Nera and sometimes some Sangiovese or Montepulciano. It is also sometimes vinified as a “rosato” (rosé), and may be “frizzante” (slightly sparkling).

Negro Amaro typically produces red wines of deep color with a richly perfumed nose and an earthy quality, sometimes said to have an overtone of bitterness (though that is likely subjective, since in Italian amaro means “bitter”, even though the name component is thought to be from Greek maru or mavro, meaning “black”, and the wines are rarely if ever even slightly bitter). The tannins are usually light or “soft”.

Factoid: Negro Amaro may be loosely related to Sangiovese and the white type Verdicchio.

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Some Descriptions of Negro Amaro Wines

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Some Negro Amaros to Try

(About this list.)

This is another fine variety not well represented in the U.S. retail market. There are certainly tons of Negroamaro bottlings out there, but almost all are either not that good, or only very scarcely available, or unduly expensive, or two or all three of those. Below is about the best reasonably priced lineup we could glean.


Schola Sarmenti Nardò “Roccamora” Rosso Negro Amaro

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Leone de Castris Salice Salentino “Riserva”
(Contains c. 10% Malvasia Nera. This is the basic Salice Salentino, not their “Donna Lisa” or other ‘named’ bottling.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Li Veli “Passamante”

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Copertino “Rosso Riserva”
(Contains c. 10% Malvasia Nera.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Perrini Negro Amaro

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.

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For a Splurge

There seem no Negro Amaro-based wines notably better enough than those listed above to justify any “splurge” sdpending.

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.