Fresh and vivid considering Puglia’s heat: 12.5%īRINDISI ROSSO VIGNA FLAMINIO 2014 Vallone ***STAR VALUE*** (£15 Berry Bros & Rudd Sleek minerally Fiano from vines transplanted from Campania’s Avellio to Puglia’s Manduria by enthusiastic Morella duo, Roseworthy-trained Australian winemaker Lisa Gilbee and her Italian husband Gaetano Morella (pictured above). SALENTO ‘MEZZOGIORNO’ BIANCO 2016 Morella This flagship white was popular with tasters for succulent citric fruits and well rounded palate: 14% Made by high quality San Marzano co-operative, who also make superb Primitivo. (£15-£17 Oak aged creamy complex Chardonnay, blended with two local grapes Muscatello Selvatico and Fiano Minutolo to enhance the grapey peachy aromas. SALENTO ‘EDDA LEI’ BRANCO 2016 Cantina San Marzano ***STAR BUY*** The best known Puglian white is from the trulli town of Locorotondo, made from Verdeca, and other Salento producers grow Fiano, Greco, Malvasia and increasingly, international favourites like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Given the heat, it is hardly surprising 80% of Puglia’s wines are red. Two other important power-packed grapes are the big dark voluptuously fruity Uva di Troia and the ancient rare Susumaniello. To the west of Salento, around Manduria, the Primitivo grape (aka Zinfandel) is highly prized for its elegant perfume and sweet raisiny fruit. Its stronghold is on the eastern side of Salento peninsula between Brindisi and beautiful baroque Lecce. Negroamaro is the king grape here, black and bitter as its name suggests, making quirky robust spicy reds and fragrant rosatos.
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Winemakers are also learning how to eliminate the rough rustic style and tame once prodigiously high alcohol levels. More recently the 1980’s EU vine-pull scheme saw more precious old vines pulled out, but today Puglians have realized their worth and enthusiastic growers are searching out what is left of the gnarled vines. Up until late C19, when phylloxera devastated the region, Puglia had over 100 native grapes. With its strategic position as the gateway to Greece and the Orient, many of Puglia’s native grapes are of Greek descent which arrived centuries ago through the important trading ports of Bari and Brindisi. What makes Puglia so interesting for winelovers is its own raft of grapes. It is here that Puglia’s best wines are emerging – and its cheap land prices is attracting outside investors from Italy’s Antinori to California’s Kendall Jackson. Seventy per cent of Puglia’s vineyards are still on flat fertile plains, mainly around Foggia in the north, which are easy to cultivate and create high yields – but to find Puglia’s real wine quality head deep into Italy’s heel to the south.ĭown in the Salento peninsula, temperatures are marginally cooler with coastline on three sides, so heat and droughts are slightly less harsh here, particularly in Manduria near Taranto and on parts of the Murge plateau. Now things are changing in parts of this once-neglected corner of Italy – and Puglia is starting to show its style. For years Puglia was dominated by co-operatives and known as Italy’s bulk supplier, producing big hefty reds shipped north to wine and vermouth blending vats. Puglia is Italy’s second largest wine region – second only to Sicily in size – with 100,000 hectares of vineyards spread across a slim narrow region down into Italy’s heel. With its pretty white trulli villages, beautiful coastline and baroque towns, southern Puglia is becoming a popular tourist destination – but it is also home to some of Italy’s best value red wines. By Rose Murray Brown MW Published in The Scotsman 14 July 2018