Negroamaro

Also known as Negro Amaro.

Negroamaro is a dark-skinned red wine grape that is the principal black variety of the Salento peninsula in southern Puglia, the heel of Italy. Its name is usually read as 'black bitter' (from the Latin/Greek and Italian roots for black), a nod to its deep color and the faintly bitter note on the finish. It is the backbone of the Salento's historic red and rosato DOCs, often traditionally blended with a little Malvasia Nera for perfume.

Negroamaro gives deeply colored, full-bodied reds with ripe black-cherry, plum, tobacco, herb and spice character and a warm, sometimes rustic structure, as well as some of Italy's most characterful dry rosati. It thrives in the hot, dry Salento climate on red mediterranean soils.