2008 Rocca Bella Negroamaro

A darkly enticing aroma. I wrote that just as a note to myself just by way of a note to begin the writing process. I was going to embellish it some and string it into a long metaphor, involving candle lit swanky bars with muted electronic down-tempo playing, with fez wearing fashionistas smoking clove cigarettes, but that seemed a bit much, so we will just have to settle for using it as the wine blog equivalent of “it was a dark and stormy night”.

So my love of the Negroamaro started at Proof on either our second or third visit there. They had one by the glass and I was absolutely smitten by it. This leads me to the greatest and worst thing about Proof. Their wine list is constantly changing, and its not uncommon to have a different line up on two visits in the same month. Alas the next time we went, literally three weeks later, my new love was gone a dim memory in the backlighting of their glass bar.

Unfortunately, as it is not a particularly common grape, the odds of running into one are somewhat akin to a chance encounter with either the Loch Ness monster or an Australian wine worth drinking. If you see one on a menu, I highly recommend stopping what ever you are doing and ordering a glass, a bottle, or better yet a nebakanezer immediately.

So, I started with the aroma, and I think I will pick back up there. As mentioned it has a somewhat dark aroma, with an air of cherry and earthiness to it. Much like tawny port, this would be a wine that I am content to swirl in a glass and living in the luxuriousness that is the nose of this divine beverage.

The color would be a deep dark rich red, and with less than half a glass in me, I feel compelled to go to the garage, get a ladder, climb up to the roof and proclaim my love for this wine loudly for all to hear. Alas, drinking and ladders don’t go together, nor would my neighbors take kindly to a crazy man shouting about wine from the top of his house. That being said, you could probably label me as a fan.

Opened up, and in the glass this wine becomes increasingly expressive. Starting with what would be best described as the most fleeting of gently sour notes, giving way to an enveloping array of subtle, yet strong flavors. I would speak of them individually, but to do so would less their entirety. Suffice to say cherries are involved in a way that legitimizes that much maligned fruit (I should note, I don’t think cherries are actually much maligned, it just sounded good, and I don’t tend to like them.) and the finish is a long drawn out affair that serves to slow down consumption and to draw out the enjoyment of this wine.

I’m not sure what the availability is like in general, but we picked this one up at our corner liquor store (one that isn’t known for its wine selection) and I know I will be heading back up their to take their remaining stock.