2009 Negroamaro Vecchie Vigne, Alberelli L'Astore Masseria, Puglia
About this WINE
L'Astore Masseria, Puglia
The history of this model Puglian estate mirrors that of the province, being built on the foundations of olive groves, grape growing and a limestone bedrock. Paolo Benegiamo’s medical family have owned the 100-hectare L’Astore Masseria property near Cutrofiano on the Salento peninsula since the 1930s, but it was not until 2005, with the demise of the bulk market, that their first commercial label came out. Bottle production of 80,000 per year is now at twothirds of capacity, focusing on the indigenous varieties Negroamaro, Primitivo and Malvasia Bianca. They have been certified organic since 2010.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
The flagship wine of the L’Astore Masseria range; it’s an old vine (‘vecchia vigna’) Negroamaro from a single vineyard in San Pietro in Lama, close to Lecce. Planted in 1947, this free-standing, ‘alberello’ vineyard produces a tiny crop of strawberry, coulis, kirsch-like fruit that’s deliciously suave and fluid. Aged predominantly in spicy 25hl oak, only a few hundred cases were made. The essence of Negroamaro! Drinking 2013 - 2020.
David Berry Green
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