Grape Guide
Negroamaro
RedNegroamaro is the signature red grape of Salento, the heel of Italy in Puglia, where it makes dark, plummy reds and some of the country's best-known rosati. Its name probably means black and bitter, and the vine suits hot, dry summers: it is vigorous, drought tolerant and thick-skinned, giving deeply coloured wines with a bittersweet, earthy edge.
Key characteristics
- Black-skinned, thick-skinned variety with deep colour
- Vigorous and productive, so yields need restraining
- Mid to late ripening; the Precoce clone ripens roughly twenty days earlier
- Tolerates drought well and resists both downy and powdery mildew fairly well
- Traditionally bush-trained (alberello) in Salento, best near the sea
Typical flavors
Major regions
Salice Salentino DOC · Salento IGT · Brindisi DOC · Copertino DOC · Squinzano DOC · Alezio DOC · Leverano DOC
Also known as
Negro Amaro (Puglia) · Negramaro · Nigroamaro (Puglia) · Abruzzese (Bari and Taranto) · Albese (Campi Salentino and Guagnano) · Jonico (Galatina) · Lacrima (Latiano · Montemasola and Squinzano) · Purcinara (Barletta) · Uva Olivella (Pozzuoli · Campania)
Negroamaro is a black-skinned variety that belongs to the far south of Puglia, chiefly around Lecce and Brindisi. It produces wines of dense colour and generous, ripe dark fruit, finishing on an earthy, faintly bitter note that accounts for the name. Tannins are present but usually rounded, so the reds drink well young, and the best bush-vine examples from vineyards near the sea keep freshness despite the heat.
The grape goes into a varietal red, a blend with Primitivo or Malvasia Nera di Brindisi, a dry rosato, and sweet wines made from dried fruit. Rosato is a particular strength, since the skins give colour and spice without heaviness. Many wines are made for early drinking, and they can age quickly, though the better bottles hold for several years.
The name is usually read as negro ('black') plus amaro ('bitter'). A rival theory derives it from Greek mavro ('black'), pointing to the long links between Puglia and the Greek world, but that would make the name repeat itself, and the variety's DNA profile shows no close relationship to modern Greek cultivars. Nineteenth-century writers in Salento also describe a sweeter type called Negro Dolce, probably named to set it apart from the bitter one. The many local synonyms (Lacrima, Albese, Jonico, Abruzzese and Uva Olivella among them) point to an old variety that was once grown widely across southern Italy.
Genetic work has produced a partial pedigree. A 2020 study using SNP markers reported a parent-offspring link between Negroamaro and Maiolica, itself an offspring of Visparola; the second parent is not known. An earlier suggestion that Negroamaro was a child of Sangiovese does not hold up when other published DNA profiles are compared.
Negroamaro is itself a parent. Malvasia Nera di Brindisi (also called Malvasia Nera di Lecce) was shown by microsatellite analysis in 2008 to be a cross of Negroamaro and Malvasia Bianca Lunga, which fits the long habit of growing and blending the two together in Brindisi and Lecce.
The vine is vigorous and productive, so yields need restraining for quality. It ripens mid to late season, later than Primitivo, and the Negroamaro Precoce clone is reported to ripen about twenty days earlier than ordinary selections. Berries are dark and thick-skinned, which supports deep colour. The variety handles drought and heat well and resists both downy and powdery mildew reasonably well, which suits Salento's dry climate. Traditional vineyards are bush-trained (alberello) and low-yielding, and growers favour sites within reach of sea breezes, where cool nights preserve acidity and aromatic definition. Retained acidity in hot years is a notable trait, and it has drawn interest from growers in warm climates abroad.
Dry red is the main style. Reds from Salice Salentino, Copertino and Squinzano are full, dark and soft-textured, with ripe plum and black cherry, a note of dried herbs and a gently bitter finish. Producers often add a little Malvasia Nera for perfume or Primitivo for extra body and sweetness of fruit, as in Cantele's Amativo (IGT Salento). Rosato is equally important: it is deep pink and fruity, and Leone de Castris first made Five Roses in 1943, a wine often described as the first Italian rosato to be bottled and sold commercially. A few producers also dry the grapes to make concentrated bottlings, among them Graticciaia from Vallone. Oak is used with restraint in the best reds, and Riserva versions are aged for longer. Wines tend to be generous in alcohol, so freshness and balance are the marks of quality.
Where it grows
Salice Salentino
Created in 1976 and spread over parts of the Lecce and Brindisi provinces, this DOC is probably the grape's best-known address. Both Rosso and Rosato must now contain a minimum of 85 per cent Negroamaro (older sources give 75), while a bottling labelled as a varietal Negroamaro needs 90.
Brindisi
Under the Brindisi Rosso DOC, Negroamaro must make up at least 70 per cent of the wine, and it has long been blended there with Malvasia Nera di Brindisi.
Copertino and Squinzano
Both DOCs lie in the province of Lecce, and each sets a 70 per cent minimum of Negroamaro for its red.
Alezio
This small DOC sits on the Ionian side of Salento and asks for more Negroamaro in its red, at least 80 per cent. Leverano, Nardò, Galatina and Matino are other Salento denominations that also use the grape.
Salento IGT and Puglia IGT
These are the widest labels for the variety, and a Negroamaro bottled under either one must contain at least 85 per cent of the grape.
Elsewhere
Few vines grow outside Italy. In Australia, a block was planted in the mid-2000s at Parish Hill (Adelaide Hills), and Coriole tends a small planting in McLaren Vale. In California, a Mendocino County winery was among the first to bottle the variety.