Francesco Marra Malvasia Nera di Lecce 2022

Francesco Marra farms seventy hectares in Ugento, in Salento at the heel of Puglia, where vines share the land with grain and olive trees in a polyculture worked organically and with minimum intervention. This wine is made from Malvasia Nera di Lecce, a dark-skinned local variety that ripens fully under the hot southern sun and the maritime influence of the nearby Ionian Sea. The warm climate and the iron-rich red soils of Salento push the grapes to high ripeness, which shows in the full body and fifteen percent alcohol. Vinified as a natural wine and aged eighteen months in stainless steel rather than oak, the wine keeps its pure varietal fruit and avoids any wood spice, the long élevage on its own lees softening the texture instead. It pours a deep, dark ruby. The nose is ripe and warm, with dark plum, black cherry, liquorice and a peppery, clove-like spice over a savoury, earthy base. The palate is generous and rounded, the soft tannins and ripe fruit balanced by a herbal, almost balsamic freshness on the long finish. Serve at sixteen to eighteen degrees. Good with grilled red meat and lamb.