hree different varieties are combined in Nardò, which is made in two different versions, red and rososé. Negro Amaro is clearly the best variety for the production of the typical rosé wine of the Salento. In is often vinified in mixtures containing small percentages of Malvasia Nera, which soften the frequently pronounced flavor of the principal grape. Negro Amaro is a highly vigorous variety and its production is almost always abundant and, above all, constant. It ripens toward the end of September and in the first decade of October. The wine obtained from Negro Amaro ranges in shading from ruby to garnet red and its flavor features a pleasantly bitterish vein. Because of those constant characteristics and the black hue of the clusters, the variety was called "niuru maru" in the local dialect. The name was gradually transformed into Negro Amaro.
The other varieties belong to the family of the Malvasias, of Greek origin. They arrived in Apulia from the Peloponnisos and, particularly, the town of Monemvasia. Today, two types are widely cultivated, the Malvasia Nera di Lecce and the Malvasia Nera di Brindisi, and they have many characteristics in common. The difference in the flavor of the two Malvasias' musts is due more to soil and climatic conditions than to heredity.
This page was written by Stefano Milioni. Background image and most photos in this section courtesy of Giuliano Bugialli, all right reserved (see Copyright and Credits).
hree different varieties are combined in Nardò, which is made in two different versions, red and rososé. Negro Amaro is clearly the best variety for the production of the typical rosé wine of the Salento. In is often vinified in mixtures containing small percentages of Malvasia Nera, which soften the frequently pronounced flavor of the principal grape. Negro Amaro is a highly vigorous variety and its production is almost always abundant and, above all, constant. It ripens toward the end of September and in the first decade of October. The wine obtained from Negro Amaro ranges in shading from ruby to garnet red and its flavor features a pleasantly bitterish vein. Because of those constant characteristics and the black hue of the clusters, the variety was called "niuru maru" in the local dialect. The name was gradually transformed into Negro Amaro.