APULIA
Apulia: this land carries multiple facets, changing, thus, each time. Apulia or “Le Puglie”, indicating its traditional definition, takes the memory back to those multiple microcosms in which its complex identity, remarkably, dissolves.
This is a region which is accompanied by the sea; its country is mainly flat, lacking in surface waters, but its roots are soaked and rich of the so-called carstic phenomenon. A scenery surrounded by calcareous rock, red soil, secular trees, dried-up beds of ancient streams, and a vast cultivated landscape. The first time in Apulia may turn out to be a sort of personal challenge for many; several well-known travellers of the past have been struck by its uniqueness, and, simultaneously, disoriented and almost irritated, due to the impossibility of being able to seize it completely, as an open book. More than one traveller (either well-known or not) has either decided to stay for good or return to that land, people, history, art, which had previously struck him/her.
Furthermore, it is also that adventurous feeling of finding oneself on the borderline between two worlds, placing one foot in Europe and the other in the Eastern hemisphere that becomes a one in a lifetime experience, allowing the foreigner to both glance at the future and keep a well--knitted bond with the past. What does it take to get to know and understand Apulia? Well, first of all, time, which also goes for those who have been living in this land for long; secondly, a slow and ancestral pace, which is typically Mediterranean, but likewise, the quick pace of the east wind. It is necessary to explore the land, walk through its streets, dive into its womb, go back up its crests. It is a mosaic, made up of sand and rock, a luxuriant mountain of thick vegetation and fields of wheat, fruit, olives all over, rocky hills, still lagoons and underground cavities, marked, moulded and modified by man, who has, over the centuries, made a land, which would have, otherwise, been doomed to a perpetual thirst, fertile and opulent – without leaving empty spaces -, erecting dolmen and menhir, castles and cathedrals, abbeys and sanctuaries, museums and buildings, mansions and manor farms, towers and trulli (typical cone-shaped homes).
The Apulian territories are:
DAUNIA
The wine variety tradition of this territory, which extends itself from Capitanata to the Subappennino (dauno), slowly descending towards the Nord-barese (north of the province of Bari), is very old. Perfect geometrical shapes of small land areas make up the extraordinary scenery that one can admire from Rignano Garganico, which is the Terrazza (terrace) of the Gargano, in order to capture, with the coming and going of seasons, the various colour transformations: the green colour of the vineyards, the silver olive groves, the yellow wheat, the brown soil after ploughing. History, art, wine and food cohabit this land in which the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine has the upper hand in the red wine variety and the Bombino Bianco wine in the white wine variety, as well as in the sparkling wine one. The first gives life to full-bodied red wines, expressing itself on excellent levels in this area of Apulia. The second, endowed with a refined elegance, considerable structure and acid degree, is often accompanied by the Trebbiano Toscano, in order to give life to particularly delicate white wines.
Considerable importance is given to the Nero di Troia wine, carrying good vigour, which is predominantly wine-made in purity, giving, thus, life to red wines which also lend themselves to a long maturation process. Completing this panorama of the wine-growing Daunia, rare gems such as Somarello, mostly spread in the Lucera area, Tuccanese, or the Zagarese grape may be found.
MURGE
When one refers to this area of Apulia it is a must to use the plural form. The Murge represent a heterogeneous territory which manifest multiple types of landscape and flavours, all coming from a generous land. At the feet of the Castel del Monte, a rocky soil enriched by a spontaneous vegetation and strips of cultivated fields apparently create great contrast with the woods, predominantly made up of oak trees, and the pine-woods of the Alta Murgia territory.
This is the realm of the Nero di Troia, which is the variety of wine which creates a bond with three Doc (mark guaranteeing the quality of a wine) of the northern part of the province of Bari (Nord-barese), giving life to well-structured wines which are apt to a long maturation period. In this area, other types of wines, such as Aglianico, Bombino Bianco, Bombino Nero, Montepulciano and Pampanuto are also present. On the other hand, in the Murgia Adriatica landscape, in the territory of which the valuable Moscato di Trani, also known as Moscato Reale is cultivated. The verdant scenery of the Bassa Murgia is where the producers of Gioia del Colle compete among each other, in order to grant the town Manduria the “supremacy” for the Primitivo wine.
Surprising architecture, such as “Lamas, dolinas, ravines and natural caves, which are the result of the slow underground flowing of water“ make up the fascinating territory of the Murgia delle Gravine (Murgia of the ravines). Excellent white wines come from these places in which Bianco d'Alessano, Greco di Tufo and Verdeca wines excel.
MESSAPIA e VALLE D’ITRIA
Valle d’Itria is the heart of the white wines of Apulia. From the vine rows of bianco d'Alessano and Verdeca, delicious and famous wines are obtained. The natural environment is marked by the domes of the trulli (typical cone-shaped homes), which can be admired from the balconies of the fascinating districts of Locorotondo, Martina Franca and Cisternino. A few kilometres away from these towns, white Ostuni, with its terraced fruit and vegetable gardens, surrounding the town walls, a thick system of manor farms and historical castles and a precious fully reborn ampelographic patrimony, thanks to the recovery of rare native aspects, such as the Impigno and Ottavianello wines. The Susumaniello, a blackberry variety of wine, of Dalmatian origin, also made in purity, deserves special attention. Messapia, a historically and culturally rich territory, is the land of the Primitivo, which is a very old native wine variety, the grapes of which reach maturation in late August (where the name comes from), giving life to a full-bodied red wine, carrying particular characteristics and a fairly strong alcoholic level. Fields of secular olive trees, vast cultivations of figs, and wide vineyards make up the territory embraced by Manduria, Sava and Lizzano, caressed by the breeze of the Ionic sea, where the picturesque vineyards of the Primitivo, some up to 80 years old, find the ideal microclimate to best express themselves, handing the famous Doc Primitivo of Manduria its name.
SALENTO
The most important vineyard towns of the higher part of the Salento territory gave birth to the Parco del Negroamaro (park of Negroamaro), due to the common characteristics of this wine variety, which is typical of the entire salentino territory and cultivated almost exclusively in Apulia. The origin of the name removes all doubt on the identity of these black/purplish-coloured grapes: negroamaro carries the tautological meaning of “neronero”, from Latin niger and from Greek maru, and it is also strictly linked to the local dialect: niuru (black) maru (bitter) clearly evoke the black shade of the grapes and the bitter taste of the wine. The vinification in purity is no longer infrequent, giving life to wines carrying an impenetrable colour and an intense fragrance. Since it is a fundamental variety of wine of the Doc of this territory, it contributes to the production of great red wines, but also of extraordinary rosès, marking a peculiarity of the entire salentino territory. The Negroamaro is quite often used together with Malvasia Nera of Brindisi and Lecce, which is another variety, which deeply represents the heel of the Italian boot. This territory – better known for its breathtaking rocky scenery of the Adriatic coast, the vast sandy areas on the Ionic coast and the remarkable baroque architecture of Lecce and Galatina - fosters an inestimable patrimony of both manor farms and historical rural homes, where a millenary bond between culture and land may be discovered.
