Wine region
Puglia
Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot: Primitivo, Negroamaro and Uva di Troia, plenty of sun, bush vines and warm, powerful reds.
- Vineyard area
- over 80,000 hectares, one of the largest vineyard areas in Italy
- Main grapes
- red: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Uva di Troia (Nero di Troia); white: Bombino Bianco, Verdeca
- Climate and soils
- Mediterranean: hot, dry summers, mild winters; limestone; many bush vines (alberello)
- Signature wines
- Primitivo di Manduria, Salice Salentino, Castel del Monte, Negroamaro rosato
- Landmark
- Castel del Monte near Andria, the castle of Frederick II, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996
Puglia forms the heel and spur of Italy’s boot and has the longest coastline of any mainland region in Italy, between the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry, sunny summers and mild, rainy winters; on the Salento peninsula, a limestone landscape, there is almost always a wind. With more than 80,000 hectares of vines, Puglia is one of Italy’s biggest wine regions and, by volume, among the leaders. For a long time quantity came first, often from cooperatives; recognition for quality came mainly from the 1990s. Many vines are old, low bush vines (alberello).
The most famous variety is Primitivo. Its DNA is identical to that of California’s Zinfandel; both match the Croatian variety Crljenak Kaštelanski, found in 2001 on a vine near Kaštela, close to Split. The name points to early ripening (Latin primativus); in the 18th century the priest Francesco Filippo Indellicati selected an early-ripening plant near Gioia del Colle, from which the variety spread through Puglia. Primitivo di Manduria, from the province of Taranto, is dense, dark and strong, often around 14 per cent alcohol and more; as Dolce Naturale it is a DOCG sweet wine. Gioia del Colle has its own DOC for Primitivo.
In Salento, across the provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto, Negroamaro is the main red grape. Its name is usually read as “black and bitter”; it gives deeply coloured, earthy, slightly bitter reds, likes limestone soils and copes well with drought. Salice Salentino, Copertino, Squinzano and Brindisi are well-known names, often blended with a little Malvasia Nera. Negroamaro also makes rosatos that are gaining ever more attention.
In the north, around Castel del Monte near Andria, grows Uva di Troia, also called Nero di Troia; it makes the powerful reds of Castel del Monte DOC and of the DOCG Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva. The DOCGs Castel del Monte Rosso Riserva and Castel del Monte Bombino Nero complete the picture. The octagonal castle that Emperor Frederick II had built in the 1240s has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. Among the white varieties, Bombino Bianco and Verdeca are widespread.
What to drink: Primitivo with grilled meat, lamb and strong cheese; Negroamaro with orecchiette and turnip tops or with grilled meat; a rosato with burrata, shellfish and antipasti; Verdeca with fish and vegetables.