The Black Bee

Filare

Torrevento
Puglia IGT "Il Filare" Rosato
2008
12.0% ABV | Price: about $12

I'm gonzo about this wine. I've been drinking it all summer. It's so simple, so juicy and bright, yet it has a serious, Old World core.

Brilliant jewel pink, it smells like strawberries and fresh-cut grass. Dry as bone with brilliant minerality, it has beautiful fruit and acidity and finishes clean. It pairs effortlessly with fresh summer fare: a handful of green beans, some fennel, a few orange tomatoes, fresh rosemary, fresh goat cheese. "Il filare" means "the row" in Italian, suggesting that the vineyard and the garden share this structure, this idea. They are kindred.

A rosé of 80% Bombino Nero and 20% Montepulciano, it's not a heady wine, not intellectual. It makes no demands. No multi-syllabic adjectives need apply (except that one).

Maybe I just love drinking a wine made from a grape called the "black bee."

 


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2 replies on “The Black Bee”
  1. Fascinating. I’d done a bit of research to try to suss the etymology, and while I learned that it’s known by myriad other names, including Bambino Nero, I’d not found the full story. Thank you!

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