Salento IGP Susumaniello Rosato 'Amai' 2024 (750 ml.) San Marzano

THE WINE

The Salento Rosé 'Amari by San Marzano is produced in San Marzano (TA), from old Susumaniello vines located about 100 meters above sea level, which with age reaches its highest winemaking potential, leaving the exuberance of youth behind. Vinified in purity, it gives rise to a rosé wine with a fresh and lively appearance and bouquet featuring notes of wildflowers, small red fruits, blood orange, a background of Mediterranean scrub with slight hints of green tea and acacia honey. On the palate, it shows an eloquent balance between gentle warmth and acidity/sapidity.

THE COMPANY

Cantine San Marzano is one of the most important winemaking realities in the Apulian wine scene that has significantly contributed to its rebirth and enhancement in recent decades. It was founded in 1962 by 19 winemakers, to unite their forces and face the challenge of a wine world that was beginning to acquire an important role within the agricultural and economic landscape of the region. Today, the cooperative counts over 1200 members and has a vineyard area of about 1500 hectares, cultivated in the inland of Taranto, in the heart of the wonderful Salento territory.

San Marzano finds its origins in two values: respect and modernity. Respect for a tradition that has ancient roots and lives today in the gaze, hands, and work of the winemakers who are part of it. Modernity for that idea of wine that is shared and convivial, always open to new languages and different worlds, which ties to a clear stylistic signature, made of elegance and tasting clarity. This perspective is perfectly framed by the choice to focus especially on enhancing old bush-trained vines with Primitivo, used for Primitivo di Manduria, and Negroamaro, without forgetting minor varieties like Malvasia Nera del Salento, Verdeca, or international grapes that have adapted very well in Puglia, such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Merlot. The suitable soils and the sunny and well-ventilated Mediterranean climate, thanks to the breezes from the sea surrounding the Apulian peninsula, create ideal conditions for the perfect ripening of grapes with particularly rich and intense aromatic profiles.

The vineyard is the true center of the project, to the point that all San Marzano wines are born from excellent quality grapes, which in the modern winery are vinified with extreme care, in order to preserve the best varietal characteristics and always highlight the authentic flavor of the sunny and generous Apulian land. The range of wines is very wide and articulated in different collections. The ability to rely on a large number of parcels also allows for the selection of the best vineyards, with the oldest vines, to create particularly prestigious labels, which have been part of the select circle of the best wines in the region for years. The Sessantanni Primitivo di Manduria is the most representative label of the way of thinking and working of San Marzano: a red that has completely changed the perception of Apulian wines in international markets. It was born thanks to the intuition of President Cavallo, determined to create a wine capable of enhancing the original authenticity of Primitivo in a new and modern way, thus transforming it into a reference point for the type at the international level.