Like everyone else, also I have my prejudices on wines and grapes. One of the best things in wineworld is that wine can always surprise and amaze you. Actually, there are no certainties in winelife.
One of the grapes I wasn’t really fond of, was negroamaro. This is a grape from Puglia, Italy, famous for it’s dark colour. The wines you normally find in Holland, are the overfruity, jammy, tiring fruitjuices without any excitement at all.
A few weeks ago, I met the Puglian winemaker Paolo Cantele at a Piemonte winetasting. When I found out that he, and his wines would be at Prowein, I had to taste his wines. Actually because I was very curious about his wines. He came all the way from Puglia, Salento to Piemonte to find out about the Grignolino grape, so there must be real wine passion, at least.
I tasted all Cantele wines in Düsseldorf, which are all really good but the one that really blew me away, was the Teresamanara, negroamaro, 2008, 100% negroamaro, aged for 12 months in barrels.
This negroamaro, showed a spiciness, fruitiness and great minerality, combined with perfect acidity and was so elegant, I was really amazed. I think this is the way negroamaro should be. Fortunately this really was a classy wine, not a dull one, like the ones I’ve tasted before.. A wine I would like to drink during my summer BBQ !
So going back home, from Prowein, a few things were on my mind..
- Puglia is really an underestimated wine region
- I love good wine, because it can always help you change your ideas, open your mind.
- Imagine the world, if we would spent a little bit more money on wines.
vinophilia 
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