TN: Contessa Carola Salento Segreto Rosso 2013

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

Appassimento is the process for making wine from dried grapes (usually air-dried). The drying process reduces the water in the grape and therefore concentrates the sugars, colour and flavours in the grape, which can then be used to make sweet wines (recioto) or dry wines (e.g. amarone) or somewhere in between. This wine is from Puglia, and is made from Negroamaro grapes. It comes in at 14% abv and is purple black in colour.

The fragrant nose shows blackberry, dried herbs (especially rosemary and thyme), mocha and a faint touch of earth and menthol. It's also showing a moderate level of apparent sweetness. The palate is medium to full bodied, with well integrated tannins and just enough acid. The black fruits are jube-like and there's a little more sense of sweetness alongside the earthy notes. There's a Campari-like bitter note towards the finaish (and this is also apparent on the nose) along with dried mandarin rind. Good length and in surprisingly good condition for a 13 year old wine of unknown provenance.

Cheers
Allan