2020 CANACE, Nero di Troia, Cantina Diomede. Puglia, Italy

UK agent Liberty Wines: “Cantina Diomede, which controls 200 hectares of vineyard, is based in northern Puglia, close to the town of Canosa. Oenologists Luca Pugliese work hard to obtain high-quality, healthy grapes. Most operations are carried out manually, and the vineyards are farmed organically. The name “Canace” comes from blending the initial syllables of the towns where the wineries are located – Canosa, in the hills north of Bari in the DOC Castel del Monte, and Acerenza in Basilicata. Soils are calcareous and rocky.”

100% Nero di Troia, fermented cool and in steel tanks and matured for eight months concrete tanks followed 12 months in French oak.

Big and ripe, like most modern reds from southern Italy – but Nero di Troia makes for a less powerful, more aromatic style than either Primitivo or Negroamaro.