The Wines of Apulia: The Creation of a Regional Brand

In recent decades, Apulian viticulture and wine-making underwent a true “revolution”, which stemmed from the enhancement of autochthonous vines aimed at the production of quality wines. After over a century of production of large quantities of second-rate wines which were particularly suited to blend with other wines, to which they conferred body and alcohol contents, Apulian producers began to enhance local characteristics and to understand the need for high wine-making skills at the service of modern wine-making processes. Starting in the Seventies, though, a progressive spreading of a new “wine culture” began. The success of the new Apulian D.O.C. labels on the international markets was founded on the recovery and enhancement of the three typical red-grape vines: Nero di Troia, Primitivo and Negroamaro. Most recently, the progress of the regional wine industry has been further accentuated by initiatives of diversification and specialization, focused on the rediscovery and enhancement of rose wines. It is now beyond doubt that the path taken by the Apulian wine industry towards international markets and recognition cannot do without the recovery and enhancement of native vines, which started in recent decades and is destined to support the affirmation of the typicality and safeguard of the Apulian wines’ origin for a long time to come