Susumaniello

Susumaniello is a rare Puglian variety from the area around Brindisi, and it was until recently close to disappearing. Its name is usually explained by reference to the donkey — somarello — either because the young vine carries such a heavy crop that it is loaded like a pack animal, or because that productivity collapses sharply as the vine ages.

That collapse is the reason for its decline. A Susumaniello vineyard yields generously for its first decade and then drops away to very little, which makes it commercially unattractive in a region that has long been paid by volume. Most of it was pulled out in favour of Negroamaro and Primitivo.

DNA analysis has shown it to be an offspring of Garganega, the white grape of Soave in the far north — an unexpected and still unexplained long-distance relationship, though Garganega turns out to be a parent of a surprising number of southern Italian varieties.

The wine is deeply coloured, almost opaque, with blackberry, black cherry and plum, and notes of dried herbs, tobacco and a savoury, faintly balsamic quality. Acidity is fresher than most Puglian reds and tannins are firm.

It was historically used as a blending grape for colour, and single-varietal bottlings date only from the 2000s. The old low-yielding vines that remain produce genuinely concentrated fruit, and the variety has become something of a cause among a small group of Brindisi producers.

It also makes a well-regarded rosato.