Negroamaro (seldom Negro amaro; meaning "black [and] bitter") is a red wine grape variety native to southern Italy. It is grown almost exclusively in Apulia and particularly in Salento, the peninsula which can be visualised as the "heel" of Italy. The grape can produce wines very deep in color. Wines made from Negroamaro tend to be very rustic in character, combining perfume with an earthy bitterness. The grape produces some of the best red wines of Apulia, particularly when blended with the highly scented Malvasia Nera, as in the case of Salice Salentino. History and Etymology While negro is from an Italian and Latin word meaning "black", there is some dispute as to whether amaro is from the Italian word for "bitter" or whether it derives from the ancient Greek mavro also meaning "black". If the latter theory is correct, mavro may share a root with merum, a wine brought to Apulia by Illyrian colonists before the Greeks arrived in the 7th century BC. Horace and other Roman writers mention mera tarantina from Taranto, and Pliny the Elder describes Manduria as viticulosa (full of vineyards). But after the fall of the Roman Empire winemaking declined until it was only kept alive in the monasteries - Benedictine on Murgia and Greek Orthodox in Salento. Negroamaro could be the grape used in merum, or it could have been brought by traders from the home of wine-making in Asia Minor at any point in the last 8,000 years. Negroamaro precoce has recently been identified as a distinct clone. RAPD analysis suggests that the cultivar is loosely related to Verdicchio (Verdeca) and Sangiovese. Distribution and wines The grapes are used exclusively for wine-making. Although 100% varietal wines are produced, Negroamaro is more commonly used as the dominant component of a blend including such varieties as Malvasia Nera, Sangiovese or Montepulciano. These wines are red, or sometimes rosato, and are usually still; though both red and rosato versions may be frizzante. List of permitted DOC wines Source 85%–100% Negroamaro: in the province of Lecce Leverano Negroamaro Rosato Leverano Negroamaro Rosso in the province of Taranto Lizzano Negroamaro Rosato Lizzano Negroamaro Rosso Lizzano Negroamaro Rosso Superiore 85%–100% Negroamaro: in the province of Lecce Alezio Riserva Alezio Rosato Alezio Rosso Nardo' Rosato Nardo' Rosso Nardo' Rosso Riserva in the provinces of Brindisi and Lecce Salice Salentino Salice Salentino Rosato Salice Salentino Rosso Salice Salentino Rosso Riserva 70%–100%