What We are Drinking - Italian Red from Puglia

The wine is Marchese di Borgosole Salice Salentino Riserva. It is from Puglia, Italy. We found it at Total Wines for about $13 and it turned out to be a great buy and a very nice wine. Of course with coupons, it can be bought for less.

Chris served it with salmon, asparagus, and Caesar salad. It was a perfect compliment to the meal.


The grape was a new one for us--we are closing in on about 300 different wine grapes. This one is the Negroamaro. According to wine searcher, Negroamaro is a dark-skinned grape variety that has been associated with the Puglia region in southern Italy for at least 1500 years. Most commonly found in a blend, alongside Primitivo, Malvasia Nera, Sangiovese or Montepulciano, Negroamaro is valued for its deep color, medium-full tannins and dark berryfruit flavors. The variety can also add earthen tones that can cross over into slightly medicinal flavors. It is mildly aromatic and can produce complex wines that show characteristics of ground brown spices such as clove, cinnamon and allspice.

The wine went very nicely with dinner and food. It was well balanced with just the right amount of complexity to compliment, but not overpower the food. 

We made a conscious decision to begin working through a variety of Italian wines before our upcoming trip to Italy. While we are more focused upon Tuscan wines for our trip, we picked up this red to give it a taste. And we were not disappointed. 

-- Bob And Chris Doan, Elkridge, MD