Puglia, Italy

 

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There are, so they say, 60 million olive trees in Puglia – pretty much one for every Italian man, woman and child. They come in all shapes and sizes, from slender saplings to massive, 15-metre-high giants. But more than anything else it’s the girth of the oldest trees that takes one’s breath away – it would take a daisy chain of at least three men to encircle their trunks. Many of these trees are centuries old; some have almost certainly passed their 1000th birthday. 

The tourists who flock to Puglia (or Apulia as it’s known to some English speakers) in summer often appreciate these trees more for their oil (which is drizzled over everything from creamy cheeses to soups and salads) than they do for their aesthetic qualities.

Those visitors who want to do something other than lie like basking seals on the beaches tend to be more interested in Puglia’s rich architectural heritage. They traipse around the Baroque town of Lecce, admiring the ornate carvings on its churches and cathedral.

The trulli of the Itria Valley are also a big draw. The design of the stone huts, with their mortarless walls and conical roofs, dates back to the medieval era. It is said that the huts were built without mortar in order to allow them to be dismantled with ease when property tax collectors were in the area, and to be rebuilt equally quickly once they had left.

Another big draw is the hilly city of Ostuni, whose whitewashed buildings seem to glow in the bright light of a Puglian summer. Its name is derived from the Greek, astu neon, or new town, and betrays the strong links the region had with Greece during the Classical era.

Puglia’s cultural influences aren’t just Greek. Governance of the heel of Italy’s boot has changed hands numerous times over the past couple of millennia. The region was fought over by the Romans and Carthaginians in the 1st century BC, the Romans eventually gaining dominion. After the fall of Rome, Puglia was held by the Goths, the Lombards and the Byzantines before the Norman kings of Sicily conquered the region in the 12th century. When they fell from grace, powerful landlords squabbled over the province, occasionally ceding territory to the Turks and the Venetians. The French even became rulers of the area between 1806 and 1815, and Puglia eventually became part of Italy in 1861. Unweaving the threads of history as expressed through the region’s food, decorative arts and architecture can be a fascinating game for visitors to Puglia.

But while tourism and olive production are both valuable to the Puglian economy, wine is also of growing importance. Truth be told, wine has always been part of life here. As in most poor regions of Italy, Puglia’s farmers practised polyculture, tending a few rows of vines along with their olive trees, legumes, vegetables, dairy herds and poultry flocks. Even when many grape growers formed winemaking co-operatives in the 20th century, much of their production was either sold off to form the base wine for vermouth, distilled or turned into concentrated grape juice that was used to enrich the thinner wines of northern Europe.

Nevertheless, there’s a growing interest in higher-quality wines from the region, whether in terms of the small but growing proportion of DOC wines or the IGT wines made outside traditional grape-growing zones or based on non-traditional grapes. So much so, in fact, that Tuscany’s famous Antinori family has invested in two estates in Puglia: one in the north and one in the south.

There are four viticultural regions packed into Puglia’s 350-kilometre length. In the far north, the region around Foggia is dedicated to the high-volume production of table wines. More interesting is the hilly zone further south, where the climate is more temperate than elsewhere in the province (the name Apulia is said to come from the Latin, apluvia, meaning lack of rain). The limestone-rich soils are planted with indigenous grapes such as nero di troia (also known as uva di troia), bombino (black and white) and aglianico.

Bombino bianco can be used to make a spumante style of wine as well as still wines. Locals believe that this sparkling wine could challenge Champagne for supremacy. On the evidence of the fizz I tasted, the likelihood of this ever happening seems to me to be very remote, but the best versions make pleasantly refreshing apéritif wines.

Puglia is, in essence, red-wine country, and in the north that red is often based on nero di troia, particularly in the Castel del Monte and Rosso Canosa DOCs. In the hands of a less-than-sensitive winemaker, the grape can be angular and harsh, with gawky green tannins. And yet, when both viticulture and winemaking work in harmony, the grape has a rustic charm that is reminiscent of well-made carignan or grenache.

Another red grape making a name for itself in the north is aglianico, best known for the versions made in the DOCs of Taurasi in Campania and Aglianico del Vulture in Basilicata. The Vulture in question is a mountain, rather than a bird, and its east-facing slopes lie within the DOC region of Castel del Monte. Once used as a blending grape, some pure and rather elegant wines are now being made from 100 per cent aglianico.

As you travel further south, keeping to the highlands, you’ll find yourself in the white-wine country of the Itria Valley. The area is dominated by co-operatives, some of which make exemplary drops, but many have yet to be dragged into the 21st century in terms of the way they make their wines.

While many of the northern vineyards are still planted in pergolas (a fast route to high volume but seldom to high quality), bush vines dominate the clay plains of the south. The Salentine Peninsula is, for many, the heartland of Puglian wine production, and it is here that negroamaro and primitivo, the region’s most famous grapes, thrive.

Of the two, it is primitivo that has attracted most attention. For a long time it was believed to be the same grape as California’s zinfandel, but current thinking suggests that the grapes are related to each other through their ancestor, Croatia’s Crljenak Kastelanski. Produced in a range of DOC and IGT zones in the south, primarily Primitivo di Manduria, Gioia del Colle and Salentino, primitivo makes wines whose best examples are lush and fruity. It’s all too easy, however, for growers to overripen their grapes, resulting in wines that can hit the 16 per cent alcohol mark (just what you don’t need when the temperature hits 40°C, as it does frequently in summer). On the other hand, fail to ripen primitivo properly and you end up with a wine that can be aggressively harsh and green. Winemakers here, as in many parts of the world, have a tightrope to walk in order to find the best expression for their grapes – and many still haven’t got it quite right.

The other star in Salento is negroamaro, which was brought to the peninsula by Greek immigrants in the 7th century BC. It was once thought its name meant ‘black and bitter’ (amaro means bitter), but many now believe that the name derives from the Latin and Greek words for black (nigra and mavro respectively). Despite the name, the wines are not necessarily of an inky blackness and, if handled correctly, the grape can produce wines of great concentration and depth, as well as some pleasantly zesty rosés.

There are hints that Puglia has even greater richness of indigenous grapes to come – there’s growing interest in susumaniello, for instance, an ancient variety that almost disappeared from Puglian vineyards but which has now been brought back to make wines of great richness and structure.

In spite of this diversity – or perhaps because of it – Puglia has yet to show itself capable of producing wines with a consistency of both style and quality; its future as a region renowned for winemaking excellence still hangs in the balance. Nevertheless, given the richness of its heritage – whether culinary, cultural or vinous – Puglia still has much to offer visitors who are prepared to abandon the seductive attractions of its beaches in order to explore its sun-baked countryside and its idiosyncratic wines.

WINERIES TO VISIT
With very few exceptions, Puglian wineries don’t tend to have a general open-door policy for visits, even if they have a tasting room specifically set up for the purpose. For this reason it’s always a good idea to contact a winery in advance of your visit to make all the necessary arrangements.

Cefalicchio
Canosa di Puglia, +39 0883 617 601
One of the wineries that impressed me greatly during my most recent visit to Puglia was Cefalicchio. The Rossi family, who own the property, are members of the area’s landed gentry, but that doesn’t mean they’re divorced from both local and broader realities. Nicola Rossi divides his time between the family estates and Rome, where he is a member of parliament (and devastatingly honest about the shortcomings of Italian politics, as you’ll discover if you’re lucky enough to meet him at the estate). His brother, Fabrizio, is an agronomist and a pioneer of biodynamics (he converted the estate to run along its principles in the early 1990s). Cefalicchio has a range of products to try, including the near-inevitable olives and tomato-based sauces as well as wines. If you’re as smitten with the place as I was, you may want to stay in one of its rooms (see below) or book yourself into one of its cookery courses. The wines are made mainly from indigenous varietals, with occasional input from international grapes – all have plenty of character.

Tormaresca
+39 0883 692 63
Antinori’s Tormaresca project has one estate in the Castel del Monte DOC and another in the Salento region. All seven of its wines are made under the guidance of Renzo Cotarella, Antinori’s head of winemaking and brother of Italy’s most famous flying winemaker, Riccardo Cotarella. You can taste the wines of both properties, by appointment, at either – Bocca di Lupo, in the north, is situated in an impressively renovated farmhouse, while Masseria Maime, in the south, features a slick, modern winery. As you might expect, all of Tormaresca’s production has the sleek sheen that you might associate with wines from an international brand, but that’s not to say that they lack personality. 

Santi Dimitri
Contrada Santi Dimitri, 73013 Galatina, +39 0836 565 866
Santi Dimitri is owned by the Vallone family, who have been big landowners in the region for generations. Although the estate has been in the family since the 17th century, its vineyards were only established in the mid-1990s. Upwards of 10 different varieties are planted in its iron-rich red soils, producing wines that range from some fairly bland international whites to fruity rosés, intense reds and a passito dessert wine. There are some quite impressive olive oils made on the estate as well – the one flavoured with mandarin peel is particularly good drizzled over grilled fish.

L'Astore Masseria
73020 Cutrofiano, +39 0836 542 020
As its name suggests, L’Astore Masseria is housed in one of the local stone farmhouses – and an outline of its massive white walls figures prominently on its funky labels. Luckily, its wines aren’t a matter of style triumphing over substance – top consultant Riccardo Cotarella ensures that the product of its 13 hectares of vineyards (mainly planted with indigenous grapes) is put to good use in the production of some half-dozen wines of richness and complexity.

Fatalone
Contrada Spinomarino, 70023 Gioia del Colle, +39 0803 448 037
The Petrera family has been growing grapes and making wine on Spinomarino hill in the Gioia del Colle DOC for five generations. It wasn’t until 1987, however, that the first wines were produced under the Fatalone label. With the exception of one white, all of the Fatalone wines are made from organically grown primitivo, vinified under the influence of the classical and new age music pumped through the winery (the family believes that music supports the work of the enzymes that act on their wines as they ferment and age). While you might think this is somewhat eccentric, there’s no doubt that the attention to detail lavished on the wines, from the hands-on management of the vineyard soil to the serenading of the cellars, seems to pay off in terms of the quality of the finished product.

A Mano
mark@amanowine.com
Californian winemaker Mark Shannon made wine in Puglia “by accident” 13 years ago, when he came to the region as a consultant for an American winery that was negotiating a bulk wine deal. He fell in love with the ancient, gnarled primitivo bush vines he found and the rest, as they say, is history. His A Mano (handmade) Primitivo is known for its consistency and quality, while the Prima Mano, made only in the best years, is both rich and dense without slipping over the invisible line to become a pumped-up caricature of itself. This year Shannon and his partner, Elvezia Sbalchieri, will be opening a hospitality centre in Noci where visitors can taste through the range by invitation.

Tenute Rubino
Via Enrico Fermi, 50, 72100 Brindisi, +39 0831 571 955
Tenute Rubino is a relative newcomer to the region. But although it was only founded in 1999 its growth has been phenomenal – and production has shifted upwards from the initial pair of wines to a current total of 11. There are now three whites, seven reds and a sweet wine in the range – all made under the guidance of the omnipresent Riccardo Cotarella. Of particular interest is the 100 per cent bottling of susumaniello (see below for tasting note). Rubino owns four vineyards, and although the winery is currently based in Brindisi, there are plans to shift the centre of operations – and the tasting room – to a more scenic location.

Vigneti Reale
Via Reale, 55-73100 Lecce, + 39 0832 248 433
The Reale family made its money in tobacco – and a number of other industries – before turning its attention to wine in the early part of the 20th century. Most of its production was sold off in bulk, to enrich the wines of Tuscan and French producers. It wasn’t until recently that the Reales began to focus on the region’s potential to make top-quality wines, and they now bottle a small percentage of their best grapes. The focus of the estate is on primitivo grown in the Cellino San Marco area, where the wines seem to ripen without the high alcoholic degrees found elsewhere in the Salentine Peninsula.

TEXT NATASHA HUGHES PHOTOGRAPHY WWW.ITALIANTOURISM.COM.AU

This article is from the April/May 2010 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine.