Italy's Heel: Traditional Italian Wine Finds Greatness

Italy's Heel: Traditional Italian Wine Finds Greatness

Italian wine lovers know their Chianti and Killer B's, but are not always as knowledgeable about wines from the Italy's sun-drenched heel. For wine-lovers, Southern Italy is a great secret wine-making area which has been producing wines for thousands of years. Today, of course, Italian wine comes under the authority of the central government which carefully manages its certifications, especially important to the export market.

Italy, of course, can claim itself as the most diverse wine-making country on earth with over 300 designations [DOCs or Denominazione D'Origine Controlata]. Everyone knows about the famous Italians red wines of Tuscany and the whites of the Veneto, but only the cognoscenti know about the fabulous treasures of Southern Italy, especially the magnificent red wines made from purely local grapes growing on ancient vines.

Some of the very best Southern Italian wine comes from the Itria Valley, equidistant from the Ionian and Adriatic Seas where three southern provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto converge. There some of the most fabulous wines, produced by the Colucci family, can be found. Their vineyard, Azienda Vitivincola, has lately come to fame for honing the regional grape, coffee-and-plum-flavored Negroamaro into a world-class wine. Recently winning the ISO 9002 certification, the Colucci vineyard can now guarantee the quality of its wine in all aspects up to and including bottling.

Negroamaro grapes are small with thick skins, concentrating the color and flavor of the wine. The best Italian wine from the Colucci vineyard is grown on vines up to 90 years old, imbued with the terroir of the region. Broken up into small parcels due to rocky soil and hilly terrain, the plantings are fully exposed to the abundant sun of the region through the mild winters and temperate summers. Colucci Copertino Riserva is a fine premium Italian wine fully exploiting the dark, rich tannis of its regional Negroamaro grape.

Another local grape, Primitivo, has been described as an Italian varietal similar to Zinfandel. The Colucci brothers' Primitivo wine, called Duca Petraccone, is produced from small quantities of Primitivo grapes using modern micro-vinification tanks but built on the model of the ancient half conical tanks typical of Puglia.

Perhaps this is the secret: ancient grape types, old vines and new wine-making methods modeled on the traditional ways of the region. It's a winning recipe: respect the origin and try to make it better. The proud heritage of Italian wines and traditional winemakers find true expression in Italy's sunny heel as well as its famed Tuscan landscape.

Diane Butler is a wine lover living in Southern California who really enjoys her Italian Wines and counsels careful attention to storing your wine. Storing wines properly really pays off.