Medium garnet, some suspended sediment, with pink-ambering edges. Nice stiff nose running rigid black tea and licorice fruit, a pond-water earthiness playing beautiful first fiddle to ripe buttery fruit.
I can’t even remember the last time I had a Negroamaro. I feel like strange single-varieties like this tend to be significantly rustic, but this is far from it. Sure, it has a nice clean acidic Euro smell headed into moldy-earth territory, but the even-cleaner fruit cuts a crisp pattern of a modern wine.
In the mouth, bright and clean with an almost-zinfandel fruit focus in a far-thinner medium. A tiny dried-fruit and pruny nuance beats an interesting acidic staccato on your tongue before an ample candied middle carries everything to meek & mellow tannins. Everything is light and shining, defiant of the massive thick bottle, blackened name and solemn label. A beautiful drinker–a daily-drinker, even–with packaging hinting at something far more seriouser. It’s a fun wine!
2013 BRUNILDE di MENZIONE Negroamaro ‘Rosso Riserva’ Brindisi DOC Italy 13.5
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