Tenuta Macchiarola 'Don Franco' Negroamaro 2019 | Puglia, Italy

A complex, minerally red from Puglia, made with Negroamaro grapes.

Producer: Tenuta Macchiarola di Domenico Mangione

Region: Puglia, Italy

Grapes: Negroamaro

Red and dark fruits - berries, cherries, and plums - a touch of stewed fruit, with spice, dusty earth, generous minerality. Beautifully opens up in the glass, revealing violets, hints of citrus, tobacco and a touch of menthol.

The palate is rich, elegantly grippy in texture, with a mineral driven savoury character, all from dense chewy tannin, bright acidity, and a generously long finish.

Nerd Notes:

Based in Lizzano (Salerno Provence) in Puglia, Italy, Domenico Mangione farms 6 hectares of Primitivo vines (using 4 hectares worth with the remaining sold to other producers).

The Negroamaro grapes used for 'Don Franco' come from a rented vineyard nearby, lying on a mix of red earth, alluvial, calcareous-clay, and sandy soils, with the vines surrounded by olive trees, wild herbs and other plants spread throughout the vineyard.

The vineyards are cultivated with a combination of organic viticulture and regenerative practices.

The grapes are harvested by hand, destemmed, and pressed. The juice undergoes spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, with a 20 day skin maceration, employing punch downs and pump overs. 

The wine is left to mature for 18 months on fine lees in stainless steel, with continuous batonnage and occasional racking, and a further 3 to 6 months in bottle

The wine is bottled unclarified, unfiltered, and with minimal added sulphur.