Italian Wine Regions - Puglia
The grapes for Danzante Primitivo are selected from the province of Taranto, on hills overlooking the Ionian Sea. Early wine growing in Puglia dates back to 2000 BC, and in later years, Greek settlers introduced more advanced systems of viticulture and vinification. The region continued to prosper and today is among the most productive agricultural and wine regions in Italy. Primitivo thrives in this warm, dry climate producing a wine that is powerful yet elegant.
History and Tradition
The region was settled by several Italic tribes and by Greek colonists before it was conquered by Rome in the 4th century B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire Apulia was held at alternate times by the Goths, the Lombards and the Byzantines. After the Norman conquest of Sicily in the late 11th century, Palermo replaced Melfi as the center of Norman power. Apulia became then a mere province, first of the kingdom of Sicily, then of the kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies. The Turks and the Venetians later occupied the coastline alternatively until 1861, when the region joined the unified Kingdom of Italy.
The Wines
Apulia produces more wine than any other Italian region, roughly 17% of the national total. It also competes with Sicily for first place as grape producer. For a long time much of the wine made here was shipped north to Turin were it was used to make Vermouth, or to France where it was used to give structure to French wines when the local harvest was either poor or insufficient.
In recent years, Pugliese vintners are pursuing wines that effectively balance sweetness, acid, alcohol content and density. Apulia counts 25 DOC wines including the Primitivo di Manduria, a red named after the grape with the same name that a California researcher, Carole Meredith, proved to have the same DNA as the American Zinfandel, the appreciated and prize-winning California Grape.
Salice Salentino is a powerful red produced in the Lecce province. It is made primarily with Negro Amaro and has gained an enthusiastic following abroad because of the excellent ratio quality-price.
Puglia has long seen a prevalence of co-operative wine production. As both Italian and European community subsidies for co-op wineries have almost completely dried up, these large establishments and their grape-grower members are facing the choice of either changing their politics or risking annihilation. This is probably best for wine connoisseurs, as many co-ops have already scaled back production in order to focus on quality, branded, bottled wines.
Information gathered from www.winecountry.it