🍇 Negroamaro

Negroamaro is a red wine grape from Italy. The VIVC catalogue lists it as a wine grape only and records 31 synonyms, among them Negro amaro, Nero amaro and Niuru maru. The catalogue marks its skin colour as black, and it is made into red and rosé wines.

Its area almost halved in ten years: VIVC records 31,176 ha in Italy in 1990 and 16,760 ha in 2000.

In Apulia it is the main grape of Salice Salentino, an appellation in the provinces of Lecce and Brindisi. The appellation's technical file describes red and rosé wine labelled with the variety Negroamaro; the red has to reach at least 12 % alcohol, the rosé 11.5 %. The appellation has been protected in the EU since 1982.

Negroamaro's pedigree is only half known: according to DNA markers (VIVC) one parent is Maiolica, and the other is unknown. Negroamaro itself became a parent of Malvasia Nera di Brindisi.

Why it matters to you. "Negroamaro" and "Negro amaro" on a label are the same grape. In Salice Salentino the varietal label applies to both red and rosé, so check the colour separately. If the grape is named on a bottle of EU wine, it makes up at least 85 % of it. Reds are served at 15–18 °C.