Growing primarily in Puglia—the boot hill of Italy; there is a wine grower in Mendocino County. Negroamaro —Amaro an Italian word coming from the Greek meaning bitter and Negro from the Italian meaning black— the color of the grape. Maru is a root word with Merum which was a wine brought to Puglia by the Greeks. After the Roman Empire decline this grape was kept alive in Benedictine and Greek Orthodox monasteries in Puglia. There is a DNA linkage to Verdicchio and Sangiovese but the exacting of that relationship is unknown.
There are different combinations of Negroamaro in DOC or IGT wines; latest estimates for this wine is that there ar 16,760 hectares / 41,000 acres in 2000 down from 31,000 hectares / 75,000 ares on a previous listed number. Wine writer Oz Clark calls this a “rather odd tasting grape” but certainly do not agree. It is a varietal that is markedly unique and certainly stands out in the crowd–sublimely dry – dark black / red fruit notes, and gracious acid structure. Can go with many foods—from seafood to steak, from burgers to Bolognese. Seek this wine out– a fantastically lyrical wine and optimum to pair with food but makes a wondrous stand-alone wine.
¡Salud! *** 
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