Another world (Puglia, Italy - Day Two)

The title of this post says it all; the Puglia region may as well be an entirely different country compared to most of the regions that I have visited in the last six weeks. It is a wide-open, fertile yet relatively dry region that has no problem growing a wide variety of crops, including enough grapes for it to rank in the top three largest producers. From north to south it is less than 100km wide, but is over 400km long, which makes it diverse not only geographically and climactically, but also culturally as well. There are dozens of indigenous grapes, some barely grown any more, and many others making a comeback. At the highest points the elevation only reaches approximately 400m above sea level, and the aspects of any hills are very gentle compared to their neighbours to the north. The soil types are commonly rich red and brown soils, often including calcareous and limestone based deposits. To try and summarise Puglia in one short paragraph does it a disservice, and it would take many weeks or months to better understand it. Unfortunately I only had three days, and regretfully had a low success rate in arranging appointments. So it was with a little disappointment but also interest that I continued south from Lucera towards Salento, but stopping along the way at Rivera, located in the middle of the region.

Castel del Monte

What’s your flavour? (Puglia, Italy – Day One)

Something quite interesting has happened to my tastes over the past six weeks in Italy; I think I have become anti-oak. I think this has been in reaction to tasting so many new wines made from unfamiliar varieties, and my desire to see the subtleties and nuances of each variety without the interference of oak treatment. In general the wines where the oak has worked for it have been made from or included more familiar French varieties, which perhaps suggests I am merely unfamiliar with how oak reacts with these unfamiliar varieties. The wines in Italy have been exceptional, and have got me really excited for the future of Italian wines, as by all accounts the quality of the wines and the understanding of the varieties and terroir have only been happening over the past 20 or so years. In no way am I suggesting that the distracting use of oak is prevalent in Italy, in fact it is quite uncommon. My assumption is that because of the excitement I have felt tasting more ‘traditional’ wines made from indigenous varieties where little to no oak is used, I have been uninspired by wines that use too much new oak for too long that give them a more ‘modern’ and ‘international’ flavour that whilst not necessarily bad are boring and like many others. Too often I see aromas of chocolate and banana (a tad strange, but unmistakeable) which immediately turn me off, and then on the palate comes the vanilla and coconut. This makes it difficult for me to assess and come to terms with such unique varieties as montepulciano, lagrein, sagrantino and nero di troia. Whilst I totally agree that I must become more familiar with these varieties and regions before passing judgement, the predilection for over-use of oak is unmistakeable and in my opinion unforgiveable. Allow the flavours to shine through, speaking for themselves and seducing new consumers all over the world, as nature is the champion rather than the winemaker in my opinion.

A friendly observer on the way to Puglia

People power (Abruzzo, Italy – Day Two)

In my humble opinion, it takes three things and only three to make great wine; all other elements merely support the others. The first is of course the environment, which includes both the climate/weather and the actual earth & surrounding vegetation. The second element is the vine itself, and ensuring that the right variety is planted in the right location. The third element is people, because everything each person does towards a wine leaves an impact. What elements you use to produce the wine is somewhat irrelevant, and is completely up to the producer. At the end of the day, wine is made using the same process of fermentation, regardless of where you are in the world. People may enter the business of wine from many different backgrounds, be they agricultural, business, marketing, sales, or any other unique origin. Many people are lovers of great wine, many enter the business to make money, some may inherit or take after their parents, and still more may desire a complete change of scenery. In many cases people may produce wine around their day-to-day profession, growing grapes and/or making wine as a hobby. Eventually they may leave their other profession to focus solely on the wine, and others may employ people to handle the production of the wine. Regardless of peoples backgrounds or motives, the ultimate prerequisite to work with great wine is passion and commitment, as wine is not a short-term investment, nor are you likely to achieve overnight success. In my quest I have met so many different people who have all left their mark, regardless of their level of involvement or responsibilities. My final visit for Abruzzo was with a family of noble origins, not the first and probably not the last of my trip.

Barone diValforte vineyards

Express yourself (Abruzzo, Italy – Day One)

One of the things I have noticed on my trip visiting wine regions is that the best wines come from vineyards planted on a slope. There are exceptions to this of course, but these wines are generally not necessarily of elegance, nor do they come from cool climate regions. All of the regions I have visited in Italy so far, including Tuscany and Valpolicella, have steep and/or terraced vineyards where the best fruit tends to come from. In every case the fruit grown in vineyards on valley floors or flat lands provide volume and approachability. What varies of course is the steepness, elevation, exposition and depth of the soils and this in turn reacts with the particular variety and micro-climates. The fascinating thing about Italy which I didn’t realise is that the entire length of the mainland has a mountain range through it, known as the Appenino Mountains. These mountains are quite wild and imposing between Lazio and Abruzzo/Le Marche, a fact I discovered quite well when I drove from the Adriatic Coast to Rome and back for the weekend. Much like the Great Dividing Range up the east coast of Australia, or the Rockies/Andes Mountains that travels the entire west coast of the Americas, this allows viticulture to be quite diverse and high quality along them. Even in Meditteranean climates like in Abruzzo, you can easily produce red and white wines of elegance and structure, but plenty of fruit and tannin. How one expresses the climate, soils and native varieties is ultimately up to the producer, as I was to discover on my first day in the Abruzzo region.

Me in the 11th century tower on the Torre Raone estate in Abruzzo