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"Tintore di Tramonti remains a rare variety; most of the remaining vines in the area are ungrafted and more than a hundred years old. Tramonti can be a windy and cold place, though: not by chance Tramonti derives from the Latin 'triventum,' meaning 'three winds,' as this part of Campania is often plagued by strong cold winds swirling about. Tintore di Tramonti is not a particularly fertile variety, but local producers have always appreciated it for its deep hue and capacity to accumulate sugars . . . . It's very vigorous, high-yielding, and rustic, but sensitive to botrytis bunch rot and berry shatter. It has a deep blue-red-colored pulp. Tintore di Tramonti is grown mainly in the beautiful countryside around Tramonti . . . . Here the vines are often close to a hundred years old and are commonly ungrafted. There have been only ten thousand bottles of monovarietal tintore made thus far, but it's encouraging to see winemakers trying their hand at a local variety that had been forgotten. Besides a deep hue, the wines exude a lovely ripe red cherry and almost jammy, spicy aromas and flavors, but with very high levels of acidity, so they never come across as heavy or cloying. As the grapes are often slightly air-dried, the tannins are usually remarkably smooth. Wines to try: . . . . Tenuta San Francesco** (E Iss) . . . . these estates' wines some of the most unique and interesting coming out of Italy, far better than those made with most other coloring varieties." Ian d'Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy, (C) 2014 |