This just in… Chardonnay from Salento, Apulia. For a while, I repped my friend Paolo Cantele’s wines here in Texas. I’m a big fan of his Salice Salentino and his Rosato is one of my favorite rosés from Italy this year. I’ve always found that Negroamaro is one of the best grapes for rosé.
You can see Paolo’s entire photo stream here and man, are those some sexy Chardonnay grapes or what! I can almost hear my mother knocking on the bathroom door and saying, “what have you been doing in there so long?”
You may remember a post I did about Negro Amaro and a possibile answer to the riddle of its name. Paolo subscribes to the theory that amaro is not Italian but rather a corruption of the Greek mavros meaning black (see the post for the background on the debate).
It recently occurred to me, however, that the commonly accepted explanation for the name of the Greek red grape Xinomavro is that it means acid black or bitter black from the Greek oxy (sharp, keen, acute, pungent, acid) and mavros (black). Could this be a clue that the origin of Negro Amaro’s name is indeed black bitter?
I don’t have time to get to the bottom of this today but rest assured, I will!
Do Bianchi 
“I can almost hear my mother knocking on the bathroom door and saying, “what have you been doing in there so long?””
You really do love you some grapes……. Thanks for the chuckles, and Paolo’s photos are stunning.
Harvest is really a beautiful time to be here in Puglia. I wonder if you have any ideas on the Fiano controversy here (Cantele’s Fiano is one of my favorites)? Campania has its Fiano and Puglia has its Fiano, but what is their relationship? Paolo mentioned that Fiano is just as likely native to Puglia as Campania, but those producing the Fiano di Avellino DOCG don’t want to hear it.
I still think Negroamaro means black, black–only because it’s the most commonly accepted interpretation around here.
I see you have learned from Alder and Dr. Vino how to drive traffic to your site. Use those naughty words. Now if you can just get some wacky commenter like mad Joe Dressner, or Morton Leslie, or Tom Pellecchia to chime in and then you will truly be viral and on fire, like your poor native state. By the way all the squirrels are safe, thanks for asking!
I always love it whenever I find Pelaverga and Bonarda in compromising positions in the vineyard
That IS a pretty sexy pic, I gotta say…
i agree, the salento igt roses are some of my hands-down favorites!
Great humour in your blog post. Had a laugh. Cheers.
I’m hope a little humor brightened everyone’s day. :-) thanks for the kind words.
@Mattie I love Paolo’s Fiano, too. Fiano is described by Pliny as a highly coveted grape and so it’s likely that it was already planted widely in the south in antiquity. I do think that Fiano shows in a richer, more mineral-driven style in Campania and the fact that Pliny points to Campania Fiano as a superior wine probably indicates that it was more widely planted there.
@Alfonso Pelaverga is said to be an aphrodisiac.
@Tracie B Hands down? I think you’re taking the humor too far! ;-)