Massaro Del Fondo Appassimento 2021

This passito from Puglia is a luxuriously rich Primitivo blend made with appassimento (aka air-dried) grapes. Top Italian critic Luca Maroni called a previous vintage “an absolute ace...one of the best Italian red wines of the year” AND has rated it 98 points for the fifth vintage in a row. As if that weren’t praise enough, it also boasts a gold medal from Berliner Wein Trophy. So, we’re thrilled to bring it to your dinner table. (But there are painfully limited quantities to go around, so you’ll have to be quick.)

To achieve the perfect passito, weeks were spent combing through rows and rows of ancient vines (in the traditional alberello method), looking for just the right bunches of grapes. Once found, the right grapes were cordoned off so they wouldn’t get mixed in and harvested along with the fruit that didn’t make the cut. It took an age to find all that was needed—and then came the waiting.

Twenty days after all the other grapes had been harvested, these hand selected bunches still hung from the vine—each grape a raisined knot of extremely concentrated flavor. The resulting wine shows off an inky black color in the glass with gorgeous aromas and flavors of black plum jam, black cherry and blackberry plus elegantly spicy notes. And it’s oh-so rich.

The name “Massaro del Fondo” is loosely translated from the Puglian dialect—it means “caretaker of the farm.” A fitting name after all that effort, we’d say! Hurry for your taste (then pair with a rich beef roast or mature cheeses).