Cantina Zolla, Salice Salentino

Descrizione

From the same stable as the excellent I Muri wines comes this, thoughtful, structured and altogether more meditative wine made in the region that has become the staple of the Puglian wine scene.

Salice Salentino is a wine from the town of Salento in the south of Puglia between the Ionian and Adriatic seas, on the Salento peninsula. Dry, with varied soils, it is the heat the creates the intense dark, shiny red wines, but it is the heat that is the enemy too. Increased temperatures will see the vines shut down and produce less and less fruit in very hot vintages, which are becoming all-too frequent.

The wines are typically really charming and we’ve long been fans of the Candindo version of this wine, which you can find a few pages back if you’re interested. This though is a richer and more complex version that has more ageing capacity as well as a broader and more mouth-coating texture. Flavours of cherry, plum and pomegranate with sweet spices, leather and a finish that shows garrigue-like herbs of the Mediterranean coast. It’s a wine of a place for sure, and a wine that travels extremely successfully.

A blend of Negroamaro and 20% Malvasia Nera (which is often used to add delicacy and aromatic character to Italian wines), this shows the classic wine flavours of the south of Italy and is one of the best examples we know.