APULIA WINE IDENTITY

From the 12th till the 17th of June, Puglia stated there identity promotion by organising several tours to different wine producers, followed by tasting sessions to promote the quality of their wines to the world.

Over 60 journalist from all around the world, Brazil, Japan, Korea etc… could experience the wines of Puglia.

We know the wines from Puglia mostly as very heavy and with a high alcohol content, so you don’t really ask for seconds. For many of us still an unfamiliar territory.

However, we have seen what some producers can realize, by using a sophisticated process of carefully harvesting and vinification, one can produce wines we like in the north part of Europe.

In fact, Puglia is one of the provinces (or regions) where you can still buy many good red wines at a reasonable price, in many variations and different grape varieties.

The most known grape varieties are Negroamaro, Nero di Troia (mostly grown in the north region of Puglia), and of course the Primitivo (known as zinfandel in the USA) that is promoted as their top-wine.

Puglia is situated in the south east of the peninsula. If you imagine Italy to be a boot (with a high heel), it is located in the heel of that boot, a very long region of almost 400 Km. The best known wine growing regions in Puglia are Foggia, Barletta, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi and Lecce.

The Nero di Troia comes from the north region, the Negroamaro from the middle part and the Primitivo from the regions Gioa del Colle and Manduria, although some producers have more then one grape variety.

In fact there are 13 different grape varieties, from which the Susumaniello, an old variety unknown to me. However it gives beautiful results with many modern (younger?) wine producers.

Nearby you can also find the Malvasia variety in many blends,  with good results.

For white wines, there are the Fiano, Verdeca, Malvasia, Viognier, Chardonnay etc…

Many of the producers position their wines comparable to Argentinean or Sicilian wines, seeing as the climate, temperature and varieties can give reflections of those products.

The Apulian Wine Identity was opened by the president of the Apulian Best Wines, Luigi Rubino of Tenuta Rubino, in the ancient open Roman Amphitheatre in Lecce, with the presence of 26 producers like Conti Zecca, Castello Monaci, Cantine Due Palme etc…

At the same time of the Apulia Wine Identity also happened the Apulian Food Identity, an event organised with 22 chefs from 19 high quality restaurants, who each presented a different plate. 


We were treated to a different menu every evening.

Winery visits

The first two days we enjoyed visiting a few wineries. Six different tours were organised in different parts of Puglia. We were on tour number 5.

June 12^th; Castello Monaci ,

A 200 Ha winery in the Salento region, between the Ionic and the Adriatic Sea. Not everything is harvested manually but also using modern machinery which can make a selection of 3 different types of maturity while harvesting. They also produce totally biological grapes.

Natural and polyphyletic ripeness, micro-oxygenation while fermenting, cooled in 12h00 for 2 to 3 days, 18 days maceration, then separating the most from the wine en and then fermenting for 2 to 3 days gives a splendid wine. If necessary adding some acidity.

Tasted:            Acante 2011;  Fiano; good starter, refreshing

                        Charà 2011;   The Salento word for joy; Chardonnay, although with a French

                                               character, a little bit tropical, beautiful wine

                        Kreos 2011;    Very beautiful rosé, fruity and very tasty

                        Medos 2010;   Very beautiful transparent red wine from 100 % Malvasia Nera,

                                               very fruity, very well made, good length (aftertaste?)

                        Maru 2011;     100 % Negroamaro, deep red and violet reflections, very nice

                                               and round, well made, good wine for a good price, good balance

                        Liante 2011;   80 % Negroamaro, 20 % Malvasia Nera, Good wine, some more

                                               spices and chocolate, long aftertaste

                        Ajace 2002, 2005 and 2008

                        Artas 2003, 2006 and 2009;  Very nice selection of their top-wines, beautiful

                                               example of the evolution in production and aging of the wines.

                                               Later in the primer tasting of the 2011 again one of the

top-wines.

In the evening we were invited in the old Castello where we enjoyed an aperitif in the old cellars and were presented with a very nice diner in the castello.

At diner they presented the following wines:

Acante 2011, Fiano, from Castello Monaci;

Marangi 2011 rosé from the Negroamaro, from Tenuta Mater Domini;

Selvarossa 2008, red from Negroamaro and Malvasia, from Cantine Due Palmi;

Piluna 2011, primitivo from Castello Monaci;

Casili 2008, Negroamaro and Malvasia from Mater Domini;

Paesano 2008, sweet rosso Salento from the aleatico, from Cantine Due Palmi.

June 13th, Cantine Due Palmi

Cantine Due Palmi is a cooperative with 1500 members with in total 2500 Ha of vineyard, a mere 500.000 ton of wine and around 7 million bottles. The installations are overwhelming but the cellars are very clean, nice and modern.

Even if this is a big cooperative with different-wine lines, they make serious effort to the quality of their wines, and we could taste a range of very nice wines

Serre 2010;     grape variety Susumaniello, made from a 10 year old vineyard, 35 Hl/Ha, gives a very nice and round wine with enough acidity.

Ettamiano 2009;        is the name of the grandfather, Primitivo, 9 month wood, good warm wine.

Selvarossa Riserva Speciale 2003; Good full wine, a bit overripe fruit, long aftertaste

Montecocco 2010;     Negroamaro and Malvasia, nice red wine, medium quality

Fiano 2011;    Nice floral aperitif wine.

Melarosa;       Spumante methodo Charmat, Negroamaro and a little bit of Malvasia

nera, short contact with the most. Pleasant as aperitif but lack of content.
Next year they will make this wine Methodo Traditional, I wonder?

June 14^th,   etc…, Start of the tasting sessions,

We started the tastings at the MUST museum, a Chiara Monumental Complex in the centre of Lecce. We started with a selexion of 20 rosé wines made from the Negroamaro grape.

There was a substantial difference in the wines, from very pale colour to almost red, and taste. Two of them were very nice. For the amateurs of rosé wines.

Then came 3 wines in anteprima 2011 from the grape variety Nero di Troia from 3 producers; Torre del Vento, Conti Spagnoletti and Rasciatano, all of them with mediocre quality. They probably need more time because we did see great wines from 2011.

The following 13 wines from the Primitivo grape showed us wines with great potential and amazing quality. Of course there were some wines who could be better made. Over all, wines to look out for.

The tasting of 52 of the top-wines from all over Puglia were presented in different wine years and from 26 producers, was the highlight of the tastings.

To my personal opinion, many of the Primitivo wines are well high in alcohol although some journalist who were present on the first event last year say the alcohol level is less high than last year. 


Maybe the wines of Gioa del Colle are more fresh because of the altitude and the cooler climate of the vineyards.

In the end the scores of the different grape varieties were announced:

• Negroamaro    85 %
• Nero di Troia  86 %
• Primitivo         86,5 %

It is sure that the Puglia region is on the rise with their quality, but it seems the prices will follow.

To be continued.