Puglia
Mediterranean
The heel of Italy: hot, sunny, and home of Primitivo, Negroamaro and Nero di Troia — once bulk wine, now ripe, characterful reds.
Overview
About Puglia
Puglia (Apulia) forms the heel of the Italian boot, long, narrow and mostly flat, and for much of the 20th century was best known for strong wines shipped north to add colour and alcohol to lighter blends. Today the focus is on its varieties: Primitivo, best known from Manduria; Negroamaro, the backbone of Salice Salentino; and Nero di Troia (Uva di Troia) in the north around Castel del Monte.
Primitivo is genetically identical to California's Zinfandel, and both trace back to the Croatian variety Crljenak Kaštelanski. Many Pugliese vines are trained as free-standing bushes (alberello), a traditional system that suits the dry heat.
Hover a marker to see what's grown there, and click it to open that place. On a touch screen, tap once to preview and again to open. Bigger markers have more grapes linked to them.
Italy
Shaded: Apulia. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Mediterranean
One of Italy's hottest and driest regions, with sea breezes from the Adriatic and Ionian seas tempering the heat. Ripe, high-alcohol fruit is the norm and drought-tolerant bush vines are widely used.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Limestone bedrock, in places overlain with iron-rich red terra rossa clay, across flat plains and low hills. The Salento peninsula, at the tip of the heel, is a limestone plateau.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Most of Puglia's wine is sold under a wide IGT, with a handful of DOCs and DOCGs for the finest.
DOCG
Including Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva and Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale (a sweet style).
DOC
Primitivo di Manduria, Salice Salentino (Negroamaro), Castel del Monte, Brindisi and others.
IGT Puglia and Salento
The largest category, covering much of the region's output and allowing varietal labels.
Within Puglia
Appellations
Primitivo di Manduria
Bush-vine Primitivo (Zinfandel's twin) from the hot, sandy heel of Italy, giving dense, high-alcohol reds at a fraction of California's prices.
Salice Salentino
Warm, generous reds from Negroamaro, the backbone grape of Puglia's Salento peninsula, softened with a little Malvasia Nera.
What's grown here
Grapes
Grapes linked to Puglia or to a place within it. Each grape's page links back here.