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98
WINES OF SOUTHERN ITALY
Puglia
Originally founded by Greece as part of Magna Graecia, Puglia can boast more archaeological finds
than most other regions of Italy. Their original village of Taras produced much of Greece’s pottery. The
region became part of the Roman Empire and was the subject of many different invasions after the
Empire fell. Strangely enough, after the Norman conquest of Sicilia, the Norman seat of power was
located in Puglia.
Puglia is simultaneously rural, breathtaking and traditional. Many of the villages that dot the landscape
are small, walled and sit atop hills. The main cities of Puglia, Bari and Brindisi, are more cosmopolitan
than the smaller towns around the region, but they still retain a certain quaintness and charm. As the
region is normally hot during the day, the cooler evening hours see small congregations of people
in the city centers and piazzas. Food is a mainstay of the Pugliese culture, and most families have at
least a small vineyard and collection of olive trees.
As a region, Puglia is known for a decidedly more rustic style of wine, which can be experienced with
its four DOCG wines. These DOCGs are all relatively new and still unknown. Primitivo di Manduria
DOC and Salice Salentino DOC are the wines that define the region. The former is a wine made from
Primitivo, the Italian cousin to Zinfandel, which results in a high-alcohol, spicy version of the popular
American wine. Salice Salentino on the other hand, is made from the deep, dark, intense Negroamaro
grape, which results in wines with intense aromas of blackberries, black currants and baking spices.