Puglia is the heel of Italy's boot, a long, flat peninsula stretching down into the Mediterranean between the Adriatic and Ionian seas. It is one of the hottest and driest regions in the country, with more sunshine hours than almost anywhere else in Europe. For decades, that heat meant one thing: bulk wine, shipped north to beef up thinner wines from cooler climates. Puglia was the workhorse of Italian wine production, and almost none of it was worth knowing about by name.
That has changed considerably. A generation of producers has looked at the extraordinary raw material available here, including ancient bush-trained vines, native grape varieties found nowhere else in the world, and calcareous soils that give wines a mineral freshness that cuts through the warmth of the climate, and decided to make something worth drinking. The results are wines with real personality: generous, sun-drenched, and at their best, genuinely exciting.
This guide covers everything you need to know about Puglia wine: the region, the grapes, the styles, and the best bottles to try.
All about Puglian wines
The region
The climate in Puglia is reliably hot and dry, with long summers and mild winters. Luckily, rainfall is low, which isn't always great news for winemaking, so the vines are typically bush-trained (known locally as alberello), a traditional method that keeps the fruit close to the ground and shaded by the vine's own canopy, protecting it from sunburn and preserving freshness. Many of the most interesting producers in Puglia work with very old alberello vines, some over 80 years old, that produce small yields of intensely concentrated grapes.
Most famous wines from Puglia
Puglia is best known for its red wines, and in particular for two grape varieties: Primitivo and Negroamaro. Both produce wines that are distinctly southern in character: rich, generous, full of dark fruit and spice, with a warmth that reflects the climate they come from. But in the hands of producers working with lower yields, better farming and less intervention, both grapes can produce wines with real freshness and complexity alongside that generosity.
Beyond Primitivo
Beyond the famous reds, Puglia also produces interesting white wines from Fiano and Falanghina, excellent rosato made from Negroamaro, and an increasingly exciting range of natural and orange wines from producers who are pushing the region's possibilities in new directions.
Iconic red wines of Puglia
Primitivo: ripe, generous and full of spice
Primitivo is Puglia's most famous grape and one of the most recognisable red wine styles in Italy. The name comes from the Italian for early, a reference to the grape's tendency to ripen ahead of most other varieties. It produces wines that are typically deep in colour, high in alcohol, and rich with dark fruit: blackberry, plum, dried fig, dark cherry, and a characteristic warmth of cinnamon, clove and black pepper.
Think of Primitivo as a wine between the fruits of a Grenache and the structure of a Syrah: dark fruit forward, with enough tannin to work with food, and a spiced warmth that makes it particularly good alongside grilled and barbecued meat, pasta with rich sauces, and aged cheeses.
Primitivo di Manduria is the most prestigious Primitivo DOC, producing wines of real concentration and depth from old alberello vines in the Salento peninsula.
Some may wonder if Primitivo is the same as Zinfandel? And the answer is, genetically, yes. DNA testing has confirmed that Italian's Primitivo and California's Zinfandel are the same grape variety, and that both are descended from the Croatian variety Tribidrag. The wines taste quite different due to differences in climate, yield and winemaking, but they share the same ancestry.
Try: Schola Sarmenti Tempo Al Vino Lianto Primitivo | Puglia, Italy | £19
A gorgeous, youthful take on a classic Primitivo, made using ancient techniques without much intervention. Much fresher and fruitier in style than traditional Primitivos: vibrant, playful and easy drinking, while keeping the warmth and spice the grape is known for. An excellent introduction to the variety.
Try: Fatalone Primitivo Riserva | Puglia, Italy | £29 | Organic, Biodynamic, Vegan, Low Sulphite
Rose petals and caramel on the nose, with hints of oregano and mushroom. Soft, rounded tannins and flavours of dark fruit and herbs on the palate, with more weight and concentration than the delicate bouquet suggests. A serious, biodynamically farmed Primitivo with real depth.
EXPLORE OUR PRIMITIVO WINE SELECTION
Negroamaro: dark fruit with a savoury edge
Negroamaro is the other great red grape of Puglia, grown predominantly in the Salento peninsula at the very tip of Italy's heel. The name translates roughly as black and bitter, a description that captures the grape's essential character: deep colour, ripe dark fruit, and a distinctive bitter edge on the finish that makes it excellent with food.
At its best, Negroamaro produces wines of real complexity: dark cherry, blackberry and plum on the fruit side, with earthy, herbal and sometimes leathery notes adding savoury depth. It tends to have firmer tannins than Primitivo and a more structured finish, making it better suited to ageing and to robust food. It is also the grape behind some of Puglia's best rosato wines, producing a fuller, more structured pink than most Italian roses.
Try: I Buongiorno Negroamaro Puglia | Puglia, Italy | £18 | Organic
Complex and smooth, with ripe red berries mixing with sweet spiciness for a warm richness on the palate. From the Buongiorno family, who farm ten hectares of bush-trained alberello vines in the Carovigno area and cultivate traditional local varieties with consistent care. Gorgeously approachable and very food-friendly.
Nero di Troia: structured and distinctly Puglian
Nero di Troia is the third of Puglia's great indigenous red grapes, grown primarily in the north of the region around Barletta, Andria and Trani. It is the least known of the three internationally but arguably the most individual: deeply coloured, firmly tannic, and with a floral, violet-tinged quality that sets it apart from both Primitivo and Negroamaro. The best examples need time, either in bottle or in the glass, to show their full potential. Worth seeking out if you want to understand what Puglia can produce beyond the obvious.
Beyond red: Puglia's white, rosato and orange wines
Fiano and Falanghina: freshness from the south
Puglia's white wine tradition is less celebrated than its reds, but it deserves more attention. Fiano and Falanghina are the two main whites from the region and are real favourites at Forest Wines, both capable of producing wines with character and fruit.
Fiano is aromatic and full-bodied, somewhere close to an orange wine, with citrus peel, white flowers and a distinctive nutty quality that develops with age. In Puglia it tends to be richer and more tropical than the Campanian version from Fiano di Avellino, reflecting the warmer climate. Falanghina is fresher and more citrus-forward, with good acidity and a clean, mineral finish. When blended, as they often are in Puglia, the two grapes complement each other well: Fiano bringing aromatic depth, Falanghina bringing freshness and acidity.
Try: I Buongiorno Fiano | Puglia, Italy | £17
Citrus zest, orange blossoms and a faint saline note on the nose, capturing the essence of a Puglian summer. Medium-bodied and crisp on the palate with mineral acidity and a clean finish. The grapes are harvested at night in late August to preserve freshness, then cold-fermented and aged on lees in steel. Beautifully made.
Try: Vigneti Tardis, Fratelli Felix Bianco | Puglia, Italy | £17 | Vegan
A golden-hued skin-contact blend of Fiano and Falanghina: quince, grapefruit, peach and lychee on the nose, with a bone-dry, saline palate and a pleasant waxy texture. The grapes soak with their skins for a couple of days before being bottled unfiltered and unfined. A brilliant, characterful Puglian white that sits somewhere between a conventional white and an orange wine.
Puglia rosato: a local tradition
Rosato, the Italian word for rosé, has a long tradition in Puglia that predates the global rosé boom by several decades. Made predominantly from Negroamaro, with occasional contributions from Primitivo or Susumaniello, Puglian rosato tends to be deeper in colour and more structured than the pale Provençal style: more pink than blush, with real fruit and a savoury edge that makes it excellent with food.
And what's more exciting? Natural producers in Puglia are also making excellent pet nat rosato from indigenous varieties, bringing a lively, fizzy dimension to the local rosato tradition.
Try: Caiaffa Rosato Pet Nat | Puglia, Italy | £18 | Organic
Pale pink in the glass with fine bubbles and natural sediment. Ripe strawberries and raspberries, floral rose notes and delicate yeasty undertones. Dry, fresh and tangy with vibrant acidity and a subtle mineral finish. Made from organically farmed grapes on calcareous soils, bottled unfiltered. A brilliant pet nat rosato from the deep south.
Try: Susumante Rosé Pet Nat | Puglia, Italy | £25 | Organic, Biodynamic, Vegan
Made from the hyper-local Susumaniello variety by Valentino Dibenedetto and his four children at L'Archetipo, one of Puglia's most respected biodynamic estates. This bridges the gap between a fun, fruity pet nat and a more serious, textured traditional-method sparkling wine: stunning colour, vibrant fruity energy and a subtle yeasty complexity with a long, satisfying finish.
Our favourite Puglia wines to try
We stock an exciting range of Puglia wines at Forest Wines, focused on producers farming with care and making wine with minimal intervention. But if you're looking for more, we suggest you to browse our the full range in our Italian wine collection.
What food goes with Puglia wine?
Our ever-favourite motto: What grows together, goes together. The region's cooking is simple, ingredient-led and often vegetable-forward: orecchiette with cime di rapa (bitter turnip tops), fava bean purée with chicory, burrata from Andria, fresh pasta with tomato and basil. And the local wines will fit perfectly alongside these plates.
- Primitivo also works brilliantly with grilled and barbecued meat, slow-cooked lamb, pasta with rich meat sauces, and aged cheeses. The warmth and spice in the wine amplify the char and the fat in the food.
- Negroamaro is excellent with lamb, charcuterie, lentil and pulse dishes, and the more robust preparations of the local cucina povera tradition.
- Fiano and Falanghina are brilliant with seafood from the Adriatic coast: grilled fish, fried calamari, raw shellfish.
- Puglia rosato sits happily alongside almost anything: burrata, antipasti, pizza, lighter pasta dishes and grilled vegetables all work well.
Discover Puglia wine at Forest Wines
If you want to explore Puglia wine further, come in to the shop in Walthamstow and we will find the right bottle for what you have in mind. We stock a range of Puglian producers across red, white and rosato, with a particular focus on natural and organic producers doing interesting things with the region's indigenous varieties. You can also browse our Italian wine collection and natural wine range online.
