The regions · Italy

Puglia: the Primitivo and Negroamaro of the boot's heel

Puglia is the heel of the Italian boot, the long region in southeastern Italy, between two seas. It's a land of sun, olive trees and deep-colored reds: Primitivo di Manduria and Salento's Negroamaro, like Salice Salentino. Farther north, in Castel del Monte, the star grape is Nero di Troia.

Where it is and what the place is like

Puglia occupies southeastern Italy, washed by the Adriatic on one side and the Ionian Sea on the other. The bottom tip, the heel of the boot proper, is Salento. Farther north lie the Murge, where Castel del Monte is. Almost everywhere, the sea is in charge: according to the Salice Salentino consortium, it makes the climate milder, brings wind and leaves a slightly salty taste in the soils closest to the coast, which are red earth.

In Manduria, near the Ionian Sea, the soil is red with iron, with limestone underneath, and turns to sand in the areas near the beach. There, some of the vines are still trained as alberello, the oldest way of growing grapes: a low bush, up to a meter and a half tall, with three arms.

The region's grapes

Two reds set the tone. Primitivo is the star of Manduria, in the province of Taranto: its name comes from ripening before the other grapes in the area. The skin is thin, the pulp is sweet when ripe and the wine comes out deeply colored. Negroamaro is the red of Salento, of Lecce and Brindisi, and shares the Salice Salentino stage with Malvasia Nera.

In the north, in the Murge, the strong grape is Nero di Troia, alongside Bombino Nero and Aglianico; among the whites, Bombino Bianco, Greco and Malvasia Bianca. There's also Susumaniello, a little-known red from Brindisi and Lecce that usually goes into blends with Negroamaro, and Moscato Bianco, which makes Moscato di Trani.

What wine comes from there

Its fame is for dry red, strong and dark. Primitivo di Manduria has intense color, aromas of plum, cherry and blackberry, plenty of tannin (that grip on your gums) and high alcohol: the rules call for at least 13.5% in the regular version and 14% in the Riserva. Negroamaro Salice Salentino is a full-bodied red with black fruit and herbs, with a pleasant touch of bitterness at the end; Salice Salentino also yields a light, coral-colored rosé.

And there's sweet wine. Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale is a sweet red from grapes that dry on the vine. Moscato di Trani comes in two versions: Dolce Naturale, sweet by birth, and Liquoroso, fortified with alcohol. In San Severo, Bombino Bianco becomes sparkling wine.

What the label says

The Italian ladder applies here. IGT (Typical Geographical Indication) is the broadest step: Puglia has six, among them IGT Puglia and IGT Salento. DOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) has a defined zone and rules, and Puglia has 28, like Salice Salentino, Brindisi and Primitivo di Manduria. DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin) is the top step, with a numbered state seal: there are four. The names that show up most:

• Primitivo di Manduria DOC: at least 85% Primitivo, in 18 municipalities in the provinces of Taranto and Brindisi. Since 2023 it only goes to market with the State seal, like a DOCG.
• Primitivo di Manduria Riserva: two years of aging, at least nine months of it in wood, counted from November 1 of the harvest year.
• Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale DOCG: the sweet red from grapes dried on the vine, Puglia's first DOCG, in 2011.
• Salice Salentino DOC: Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera in the municipalities of Salice Salentino, Veglie, Guagnano, San Pancrazio Salentino and San Donaci, between Lecce and Brindisi. It comes in red, rosé and white.
• Castel del Monte: the DOC of the Murge, in the north, and three DOCGs: Castel del Monte Rosso Riserva, Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva and Castel del Monte Bombino Nero.
• Cacc'e Mmitte di Lucera DOC: a red of Nero di Troia with Montepulciano and Sangiovese.

What it pairs with

Puglia's red is for a generous table. Primitivo goes with pasta in meat sauce, lasagna, meatballs and even a fish moqueca with tomato; the consortium also suggests spicy food, so it works with a hot Asian dish. Primitivo Riserva calls for churrasco (Brazilian barbecue), roast pork leg and game. Salice Salentino goes with meat and aged cheese, and the rosé with salads and starters. In Puglia, Negroamaro red comes with taralli, those crunchy little rings: our version is the peanuts at the boteco. The sweet Primitivo closes the night with dark chocolate cake or blue cheese. All suggestions: liked another pairing? Go with that one.

The grape that turns to raisin on the vine

Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale has a trick the consortium says only happens there. Instead of picking the grapes and letting them dry in a room, as with Amarone in northern Italy, the producer leaves the bunches on the vine. With the strong sun and the wind off the Ionian Sea, the grapes lose about half their water, concentrate their sugar and are picked by hand, carefully so as not to crush them.

The result is a sweet red, deep in color, with aromas of jam and dried fig. It was Puglia's first wine to earn a DOCG, in 2011, and it's the only one of the region's four DOCGs made just for sweet red. The Primitivo di Manduria appellation, the dry one, is older: the Ministry of Agriculture recognized it on October 30, 1974.

The grapes in the labels from here

Across the 558 Puglia labels in the search, the grapes that show up most. The number is how many labels use each one.

Top rated from Puglia

Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.

• Terre di San Vincenzo Dal 1947 Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Gianfranco Fino Es Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Varvaglione Cosimo Varvaglione Collezione Privata Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Terra Rossa Vigne Vecchie Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Schola Sarmenti Diciotto PrimitivoItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.5
• San Marzano 60 Sessantanni Old Vines Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.5
• Vigneti del Salento Vigne Vecchie Leggenda Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.5
• San Marzano 60 Sessantanni Limited Edition Old Vines Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.5

See the Puglia labels in the search →