Much as I hated an English grammar school’s version of Dickensian discipline, weirdly though it seems having to endure an anachronistic classical education only encouraged a love of things old and Mediterranean. Appropriately this maker has named their range of resurrected old varieties after the ancient Greek wine jug, maybe those early drinkers were into decanting? Li Veli’s version of my Pugliese fetishised red grape has had consistently good reviews and is five or so euros more a bottle than the competition. Worth the proverbial punt then, particularly as there were some dinky half bottles in one of the many interesting enoteche siren calling me on the streets of Bari.
The 2023 first, it opened with a clean deep ripeness and possessed a patrician complexity. All the dark cherry, pomegranate and spice with a really beguiling minerally stony and refreshing ending. Sometimes, such care in grape farming shows a depth of fine acidity and tannin that adds that oddly ineffable geological tilt. Leads to inadequate wine notes with words like minerally. It’s one of those things that raises a mouthful of wine to serious enjoyment but is hard to communicate and only leads to wine nuts being teased.
14% alcohol. Diam. €9 for a half.
94 points.
The 2024 bought on the strength of its half bottle sibling pleasingly showed just how good vines can produce such interesting wines each year that reflect the weather in a good way. Much less dark fruited ripeness, much more into bright cherries, light baking spices and a nearly shocking blast of tingling acidity. For something grown in such a warm spot, it was surprisingly fresh and perky. Still that classy rock infused element of the 2023 but in a much less ripe version. These two examples of Li Veli’s craft were certainly the standout examples of quite a few Susumanielli. Ended up that about one in three was worth a revisit, some were just too pushed in the extraction or strictly commercial, others a bit young vine or washy. Nonetheless, good things are going on in old Puglia, particularly this producer perhaps. The food’s great too.
13% alcohol. Diam. €18.
92 points, maybe more if that acidity calms down a bit.
