Nero di Troia, also widely known as Uva di Troia, is one of Italy’s gems which grows in Puglia in areas like Barletta and Bari. Its origins are a bit of a mystery, legend has it that it was named after the Hellenic city of Troia.

Up until the 2000’s, Nero di Troia was not regarded as a quality grape and was mainly blended with Montepulciano to give the wines colour and tannin. Because of its high polyphenolic content, the resulting wine has an intense ruby red colour.

On its own, this grape can be quite harsh since it has a high level of tannin especially if the grapes are picked too early before they are ripe enough. In recent years, single varietal wines made from 100% Nero di Troia have become much more popular among the Italian producers. What differentiates this grape from the other two hero grapes of Puglia – Primitivo and Negroamaro – is that it produces elegant and rounded wines that are medium in body and acidity with notes of red fruit, mineral, and violet. In comparison to the other two grapes, Nero di Troia ripens during mid to end of October whereas Primitivo and Negroamaro ripen in August and September respectively.

Today a lot of the Nero di Troia wines are produced under Puglia IGT though it is a required blending grape in a couple of DOCs like: Rosso Canosa, Rosso Barletta, Castel del Monte Rosso with the latter producing some of the best Nero di Troia wines.

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