Tasting Notes: Ripe red fruits blend with spicy hints to give this wine its intensity, with dense flavours of baked orange and vanilla. That’s balanced with a smooth finish thanks to the Morello cherry flavours and vanilla notes. You’ll also find a touch of thyme.
Winemaking Notes: Malvasia Nera, 13.5% ABV, from Puglia, Italy
Food Pairings: You need flavours that can match up to this wine’s intensity, and the Gorgonzola Dolce’s perfect. We recommend this softer, creamy yet tangy cheese to balance the Malvasia Nera’s warm spices.
About the Winemaker: European Producer of the Year 2017 San Marzano produce elegant wines using modern and traditional methods. The vineyard in Salento, Puglia is approximately 100m above sea level, giving it the great temperate variation ideal for intense berry flavours, and the perfect soil condition for growing vines.
Talo is the surname of one of the winegrowers that has supplied San Marzano for many years.
Growing Conditions: 2018’s rainy, humid summer meant the Malvasia Nera grapes were harvested a little early to preserve their high quality. Careful fruit selection delivered wines with intense flavours and aromas, slightly higher in acidity and a little lower in alcohol.
Temperature-controlled maceration for around 10 days provided the ideal level of colour, aromatics and structure from the grapes. Alcoholic fermentation took place with selected yeasts, then the wine was aged in French oak barrels for four to six months to give it its complex flavours.