Alberto Longo - Le Cruste Nero di Troia, 2017
Alberto Longo’s family have been growing vines and olive oil (two staples of traditional Pugliese farming) since the 1960s. In 2000, Alberto Longo started to commercially sell wine. His vineyards lie in the countryside of San Severo and Pietramontecorvino, in the northern part of Puglia near Foggia.
To craft his elegant “Le Cruste”, the Nero di Troia grapes are softly pressed and subject to careful fermentation. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for 9 to 10 months before resting for an additional 12 months in bottle before release.
The wine has a perfect ruby hue in the glass. The colour is of medium+ intensity.
On the nose, it commands a medium+ to pronounced intensity of flavours. It’s still very youthful and the red fruit component dominates the attack. The aromas of black plums and black cherry are ripe and juicy, but at the same time preserving a natural slenderness and elegance – two words that characterise this wine as a whole. The black fruit notes dance with balsamic and herbal suggestions of crushed bay leaves, mediterranean shrubs, violet and old bark.
On the palate, the wine is medium+ in body. It is rich and textured but also precise and refined. The tannins (medium+ quantitatively) are fine-knitted and beautifully resolved. Pronounced intensity of flavours, with a medium to long classy finish. Great medium+ acidity, perfectly balancing the focused fruity flavours. From start to finish, everything is in harmony and there is a finesse to this wine. Great fruit flavours with a lovely integration of herbal spiciness, flowery undertones and secondary flavours.