Vino di Puglia – Tormaresca Negroamaro
Nov 28th, 2007 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Italian, Wine | Comments | 1 Comment |
This is what I’m drinking tonight. I have a thing about Southern Italian wines. Part of it is my Puglian neighbor Dominic and his wife Rosa, part of it is the fact that many of my friends Whose Names End in Vowels from back in Jersey were from either Sicily, Bari or somewhere around the arch of The Boot.
I also grew up around European wines. Now that I live in California, I am supposed to like local wines, and I do in many cases. (Mostly I stick to locals doing Italian and Spanish varieties) This wine, part of the Antinori empire, hits the spot as what I call a “Wednesday wine,” and not just because today is Wednesday. What I mean is that it can’t be truly great, like a Barolo or a Rioja Riserva — the wines the Italians call vino di meditazione — but it needs to be something more than a light Chianti (too thin)Â or a Lodi fruit bomb with 15 percent alcohol (too gnah, gnah chewy).
Decent structure, nice tannins, very dry and a little austere. Dusty? And the fruitiness departed some time ago. (I am drinking a 2003). What I like is that it’s essentially a little cousin of a Super Tuscan, which, I suppose, makes sense considering it is 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. At only 13 percent alcohol, this wine is also pretty easy to drink, too.
One of my recent regulars was also a Negroamaro from Puglia. Didn’t know you were also a fellow wine-geek. Props.