Apulian Wines
Wine production in southern Italy and in Apulia in particular, can be traced back to Egyptian times. Phoenicians with whom the region had extensive trading links, were fully appreciative of the rare quality produced.
Later on the Romans had the chance to appreciate it, indeed they even wrote about it! : Tibullo 54 b.c. , Pliny the ” elder” 79 b.c. and Orace 65 b.c. were all complimentary of such strong wine, adding valuable information on the method of production of the time.
Frederick II of Swabia did much during his reign to promote the cultivation of such nectar in a land blessed with ideal climate.
Apulia is one of the largest producers by yield , in the world. In the past, because of their potency they were largely used to “cut” other wines. Fortunately in the mid 80′ this changed and instead of going for quantity, DOC was achieved by over twenty wines.
This has been possible with substantial investment and a sense of pride in what is a superb natural product, furthermore a sharp focus on quality and on some less known grapes has propelled the wines of this region to international recognition.
Today Apulia boasts 25 wines DOC with 52 reds, 28 whites, 22 rose , 17 sweet and 9 spumante.
Some of the best known wines are slowly finding their way to the UK and Ireland like : Primitivo di Manduria and others full bodied garnet coloured wines.
Follow the link to the next page for a closer look at the area of production of each wine and how best should be served.
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