2019 Tenimenti della Scala Negroamaro Appassimento Salento IGT

If you love Ripasso-style wines, this one’s going to feel like discovering a secret shortcut to indulgence. From the sun-drenched vineyards of Puglia—the heel of Italy’s boot—comes a bold, rich, and utterly irresistible expression of Negroamaro, crafted in the traditional appassimento method.

Here’s how it works: After harvest, the ripe grapes are carefully dried on bamboo racks or straw mats. For weeks, sometimes months, they slowly lose water and concentrate in sugar and flavour. By the time they’re ready, they resemble raisins—intensely sweet, complex, and bursting with character. These dried grapes are then fermented and passed over a base wine, layering complexity and depth.

The result is a deep, full-bodied red overflowing with decadent flavours: think dark chocolate, cocoa powder, blueberry compote, sun-dried figs, and blackberries just on the edge of jammy perfection. This is Southern Italy’s answer to the bold reds made famous by Orin Swift—the kind of wine that delivers big, expressive fruit wrapped in smooth tannins and seductive texture.

Made in a style more common to Northern Italy, it's rare to find a Negroamaro produced this way. Tenimenti della Scala took a bold path by applying Amarone-style winemaking to a native southern grape—and it paid off. This is a one-of-a-kind Southern Italian seduction, made for those who like their reds with a little more swagger.

The Salento region is known for its rustic charm and coastal beauty, but here, it’s the innovation that steals the show. Tenimenti della Scala is challenging expectations and redefining what Negroamaro can be. It’s tradition reimagined, wrapped in rich, opulent flavour.

This $20 bombshell is rewriting the story of Southern Italian winemaking. Decadent, smooth, and deeply satisfying—this wine was made to impress.

NYR

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