Red
Susumaniello
A Puglian red from around Brindisi and Ostuni, deeply coloured with firm acid, dark berry fruit and a herbal, slightly bitter finish. It was traditionally a blending grape for Negroamaro and is now increasingly bottled on its own, where it turns out to have plenty of character.
Worth knowing
The name is usually traced to somarello, a little donkey, for the heavy load of fruit the vine carries when young. Yields collapse as it ages, which is the opposite of what growers want and part of why it fell out of favour.
Where it is allowed1 appellation