2022 Lupo Meraviglia Tre di Tre Puglia Rosso 750 ml

If you were going to design an ideal climate in Italy for growing bold and powerful red wines, you’d end up with something a lot like Puglia.

The heel of the boot enjoys the sunshine you’d expect for such a southerly latitude, with rocky soils to challenge the vines and plentiful ocean breezes to ensure a long growing season. The region is much more focused on agriculture than the culture of fine wine, which is why the Lupo Meraviglia is, get ready for this, an expensive bottle by local standards.

With an incredible 99 points from Italian critic Luca Maroni, this is one of the top bottles in the region—and one of our favorite reds we’ve ever tasted at this price. Like Wine Access VP of Wine Eduado Dingler said: “I dare you to find a better southern Italian wine for this price.”

Puglia grows an array of intense red grapes: Primitivo, which is nearly identical genetically to Zinfandel; Negro Amaro, named for its dark pigment; and powerful Aglianico, native to the area around Naples but also built to thrive in the heat of the Salento peninsula.

After picking the grapes at optimal ripeness, Meraviglia uses a “salasso” technique—the French call it saignée—bleeding off 20–30% of the liquid early in the winemaking process. It’s costly to discard this, but doing so increases the skin-to-juice ratio, providing deeper color and fruit, making for a more powerful, intense wine.

This is dynamite with anything meaty and grilled, and inexpensive enough to pour for the backyard-barbecue crowd. We kicked off cookout season by pouring it with smoked chicken and garlic-butter crowned burgers, and it’s great with a veggie tagine when the weather cools.