Thursday Virtual Happy Hour: Wines from Puglia
Details
Puglia (Apulia to many English speakers) is a long, thin wine region in the far south-eastern corner of the 'boot' of Italy. The most commonly cultivated grape varieties here are Sangiovese, Primitivo, Negroamaro and Trebbiano. To continue the footwear analogy often used to illustrate Italy’s shape, Puglia runs from the very point of the heel to just below mid-calf height, where the 'spur' of the Gargano Peninsula juts out into the Adriatic Sea.
The heel (the Salento Peninsula) occupies the southern half of the region, and is of great significance to Puglia's identity. Not only are there cultural and geographical differences when compared to northern Puglia, but the wines are also different. Where the north is slightly hillier and more connected to the customs and winemaking practices of central Italy, the south is almost entirely flat and retains a strong connection with its Greco-Roman past.
The one factor which unites northern and southern Puglia is the choice of crops grown: olives and grapes, in that order. The region is responsible for almost half of Italy's total olive-oil production and has a long-held reputation as a prolific source of (mostly red) wine.
At the turn of the century, only a tiny percentage of Puglian wine was of DOC quality; that figure is now climbing steadily and new DOCs are being introduced. In 2010 the region even gained its first DOCG in Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale, followed a year later by a trio of red wines lifted up out of the Castel del Monte DOC. Now, the region holds six IGT/IGP titles and just over 30 DOCs. Puglia lends itself to division into three rough viticultural areas, which correspond neatly to its administrative provinces: Foggia in the north, Bari and Taranto in the middle and Brindisi and Lecce in the south.
The most obviously full-blooded Puglian grapes are Negroamaro and Primitivo, while Verdeca is the only salient example among the whites in this hot, red-dominated region. Primitivo is at home in Manduria and Gioia del Colle, and creates robust, powerful wines known locally as "mirr test" (hard wine).
We have a choice of videos to watch including:
- https://youtu.be/0BB86BWRpGY?si=B7OIhYhFkqxlwkmk -
Italian Wine Regions: Puglia - Gladiator Wine TV (11:37) - https://youtu.be/fMPXt-uZwSc?si=B31DnmOAKVBpZvQn - Amazing Wines of Puglia - Greg, the Wine Traveler (4:45)
- https://youtu.be/AFPbdU8xQc8?si=7lrM63BANnGGKMKB - Every ITALIAN Red Wine from APULIA Explained - Mario Explains Wines (24:26)
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So, pick up a bottle and watch a couple of videos. Let us know what you’re drinking and eating, and, if possible, the region from which your wine comes. Do you have any comments (positive or negative) about the videos? And, as always, tell us what’s going on in your life - what's happening with you, how you're feeling about things, updates, successes, challenges - as much or as little as you’re willing to disclose. We are in this together. And - thank goodness - we have wine!
Cheers!!