New
Cachet For An Old Wine Region:
Apulian estates are winning praise as cheap acreage draws savvy vintners
Apulia
produces 17% of Italy's wine, enough to make it the world's sixth-largest
winemaking region. Yet until recently, much of Apulia's red wine was
used to bulk up wines from Tuscany,
Piedmont,
and even France during a poor harvest. Whites were sent to Turin to
be distilled into vermouth. Today, Apulian estates are distinguishing
themselves, profiting from unique varietals, old vines, cheap land,
and an influx of winemakers. In August, Robert Parker's influential
The Wine Advocate scored nine Apulian wines at 91 points or higher,
an "exceptional" rating.
Apulia's new guard includes Vahé Keushguerian, president of
La Corte winery. A former restaurateur in Berkeley, Calif., Keushguerian
moved to Tuscany in 1996 and began making wine. Two years later he
purchased 55 acres in Apulia planted with the local varietals negro
amaro and primitivo. Now, La Corte's $30 top blend, Re, has won international
acclaim. "It's the best wine I have ever tasted from this part
of Apulia," says Wine Advocate's Daniel Thomases.
Northern Italian winemakers, who once turned down their noses at their
southern brethren, have made the biggest investments. Avignonesi of
Siena and Gruppo Italiano Vini of Verona have both snatched up 100-acre
to 200-acre properties. Tuscan wine dynasty Antinori,
which bought nearly 1,500 acres, markets four reds from that estate
under the brand Tormaresca. It's producing 1.2 million bottles a year
and aims to double that by 2007.
The outsiders have brought modern production techniques, hygiene,
and refrigeration to Apulia, not to mention marketing and distribution
knowhow. "People thought negro amaro had a cooked flavor and
a barnyardy aroma," says Gianluca dell'Antoglietta, Tormaresca's
marketing director. "In fact, it was just poor winemaking."
Tormaresca's best -- the 2001 Bocca di Lupo, made from the local aglianico
grape, and the 2001 Masseria Maime negro amaro -- retail for about
$25.
Apulia's real strength is in everyday wines, says Severino Garafano,
a wine consultant who makes wine at his estate, I Monaci. Its 2001
Censi, a blend of negro amaro and primitivo, has a Wine Advocate rating
of 88 and retails for just $11.
Apulia has made great strides in the past five years, says Sergio
Esposito, owner of New York-based Italian
Wine Merchants. Although he steers clients toward northern Italian
wines for special occasions, he believes Apulia has "more potential
to make great wines than unknown producers in northern Italy or Bordeaux."
That is nothing to sniff at.
by Jane Black
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