This wine is ruby red in colour, with purple hues. This Negroamaro is intense with notes of blackberries and blackcurrants. It is medium bodied and velvety, with good balance and savoury notes on the finish.

The vineyards are mostly situated in the communes of Manduria and Sava and are owned by growers with whom Filippo has been working for many years. Production is lower than its potential, which ensures the best quality grapes are selected. The red soils are calcerous clay and rich in iron, minerals and nutrients. 80% of the grapes come from old bush vines and the rest from trained vines that are at least 20 years old.

Spring was colder than usual, and this slowed down budbreak and flowering. May and June followed with above average rainfall. Despite this, the Mistral and the north wind persisted for more than 30 days and this allowed vines to keep healthy during the ripening phase delivering extraordinary quality but with 20% lower yields.

The grapes were gently pressed and cooled to 10ºC for a maceration period of 8-10 days with regular pumping over. Yeasts were added to start fermentation, which took place under temperature-controlled conditions of up to 20ºC. The wine was then aged in used American and French oak for 4-5 months before bottling.

This is Farnese’s venture in Puglia (they are also responsible for Gran Sasso, Zabù, Vesevo, Tufarello and others). The wines are made at two wineries in the province of Taranto on the western flank of Salento. The style of the wines - fresh whites, soft and generous reds - will be familiar to those who buy their other wines, as winemaker Filippo Baccalaro is the driving force behind this label. Filippo, a native of Piemonte, has been working in Puglia for almost two decades. He was attracted by the rich, ripe flavours of the fruit, and has the potential to capture these flavours with minimal use of technology and a lot of know-how.