Mario’s Italian Wine – Pino Grigio

About the Puglia Region:

Location: Southern Italy, East
Notable Reds: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Malvasia Nera, and Uva di Troia
Notable Whites: Fiano, Pinot Grigio, and Chardonnay

Puglia is a long, thin wine region in the far south-eastern corner of Italy. Northern Puglia runs from where the ‘spur’ of the Gargano Peninsula juts out into the Adriatic Sea. Southern Puglia occupies the southern half of the region and is of great significance to Puglia’s identity. Not only are there cultural and geographical differences between northern and southern 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 wine.

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.

In terms of terroir, Puglia has a formidable array of natural tools to help encourage prolific vine growth. The hot Mediterranean climate, persistent sunshine, and occasional sea breezes make for a near-perfect environment for viticulture. The region’s geology shows a bias towards cretaceous limestone under layers of iron-rich quaternary deposits, most visible in the soils around the Colline Joniche Tarantine hills and near Martina Franca and Locorotondo in the Itria Valley.