Michele Biancardi, Anima di Nero, Nero di Troia, IGT Puglia, 2021

Here’s the full tasting note for...

Michele Biancardi, Anima di Nero, Nero di Troia, IGT Puglia, 2021

Last time we shipped this wine, it received a fabulous review from the press and sold out quickly. We are very happy to have it back. Nero di Troia is the most important red grape in the northern part of Puglia and makes more structured serious wines than those found further south. Aged in large oak barrels, this is warming, spicy and dark-fruited with notes of sun-baked earth and mountain thyme alongside the mulberries and wild plums. A robust red for red meats and hard cheeses. Now-2029

Finding the right partner in Puglia has pre-occupied us for many years. It’s one of those regions where there’s little space between enormous, industrial scale wineries and over-priced “boutique” cellars. We sought out Michele Biancardi because the wines were written up as offering exceptional value in the useful Italian Slow Wine guide. His 9 hectares of organically cultivated vines lie near Cerignola, in the north-western sector of Puglia. He chooses to focus on local grapes only: Fiano (and the rare Minutolo) for whites; Primitivo and Nero di Troia for reds. What distinguishes these wines is a stimulating purity of fruit and moderate alcohol levels - in a very hot region where so many reds in particular are raisiny, coarse and over-alcoholic.