The Spirit World

While Northern and Central Italian wine regions are quite well known internationally, think Tuscany and Piedmont, Southern Italy’s wine regions are becoming more popular as these wines find their way onto the world market. Among them, the region of Puglia, which serves as the “heel” of Italy’s boot, has had a renaissance in its wine production. Historically, Pliny the Elder spoke highly of Puglian wines, placing them on par with those of Campania, which were widely recognized at the time. While less recognized today, wine came to Southern Italy early on with the Etruscans and Greeks teaching the Italians to cultivate grapes and eventually make wine. In fact, Italy was originally called Oenotria — land of the trained vine.

Puglia achieved its Golden Age during the Norman occupation from the 11th century through 1250. However, for a long time during the more modern era, the focus of Puglian wines was on quantity, not quality. The wines were made to emphasize high alcohol and sugar and many found their way to Northern Italy and France –via tanker, not bottle, to beef up the wines made in these more northerly (and thus, cooler) climates.

Today, the emphasis has shifted toward quality with more balanced wines produced and Puglia ranks second overall in Italian wine production, with a 13% share in total, and 6% in DOC/DOCG (quality wine categorization). These figures represent a significant growth in the quality wine arena. In the past year, fine wine production in Puglia has grown from 28% to 35% of Puglia’s total production. Moreover, some foreign investment has started to trickle into the region with Kendall-Jackson and Mano a Mano. Pierro Antinori also came in from Northern Italy and produces its Tormaresca brand here. For the future, both whites and reds are likely to continue to improve, but bargains may be disappearing as greater investments are made, quality improves and the Euro maintains its strength. Yet, compared to many other Italian wines, these wines should still seem relatively inexpensive to the consumer.

Grapes grown in Puglia today include: Negroamaro, Uva di Troia and Primativo, among the reds, while white wines include Greco and Malvasia. During phylloxera, many of Puglia’s vines were wiped out. Accordingly, most of the currently planted grapes are not indigenous to the region as many might think. Quality wine appellations include: Primativo di Manduria, Salice Salentino, Brindisi, Leverano and Castel del Monte with regional wines (IGT): Salento, Murgia and Puglia.

I recently learned about Conti Zecca, an historical winery in the region, which is among the few Puglian wineries that are responsible for the full wine production process — from grape growing to winemaking. Intrigued, I researched the winery and made a point to taste a number of wines from its portfolio.

The Zecca family dates back to the 16th century, at which time they moved from Naples to Leverano, situated about three-quarters down Italy’s heel in the region of Puglia. In 1584, Giulio Cesare was the first family member born in their adopted region. Today, the company is managed by the four Zecca brothers — Alcibiade, Francesco, Luciano and Mario.

Conti Zecca maintains three estates, with Donna Marzia as the largest, having a total of 100 planted acres. With proximity to the Ionian sea, the maritime climate provides moderate temperatures for the grapes to fully ripen without becoming overly so. The wines are produced from a combination of indigenous and international grapes, including Primativo, Negroamaro, Aglianico and Cabernet Sauvignon, among the reds. Malvasia, Fiano, Vermentino and Chardonnay are the predominent white grapes.

The family’s modern winemaking begins in 1935, but it was in 1999 that they launched their highly regarding Nero wine (1997 vintage), which seems to really have put the winery on the map. Moreover, it showed the world that serious wines could be made in a region known more for quantity than quality. As further evidence, Conti Zecca is a charter member of the Grand Cru Committee of Italy, which reads like a who’s who of Italian wineries, boasting Anselmi, Antinor, Barone Ricasoli, Ca’ del Bosco, Jacopo Biondi Santi and Feudo di San Gregorio among them.

The Conti Zecca portfolio includes several wines labeled under its Donna Marzia estate, which retail for $9.99 (USD). Its Malvasia Bianca 2007 (Salento IGT) is youthful with intense aromas of peach, lemon and a hint of floral. On the palate, it shows flavors of citrus, stone and white flowers. Its lively acidity, along with its fruit concentration and medium- body, make it a good match for seafood and light pasta dishes.

The Donna Marzia Negroamaro 2006 (IGT Salento) provided some complexity with aromas of fig, blackberry, prune and a slight medicinal note. These flavors persisted on the palate and were joined by notes of coffee. While the wine was generally good, there was some slight heat in the back of the palate and the length could have been a bit longer. It would pair well with game and other meats.

The last wine I tasted in this range is the Donna Marzia Primativo 2005 (Primativo del Salento IGT), which displayed pronounced, youthful aromas of blackberry, blueberry, balsam, cherry cola and a hint of oak. The full-bodied wine had bright, vibrant fruit flavors of blackberry and blueberry with notes of dusty earth and spice and would match nicely with meat courses.

The famed Nero 2005 (Rosso del Salento IGT), from Conti Zecca’s Selections line, is a blend of 70% Negroamaro and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine sees 18 months of ageing in new, French barriques, followed by an additional six months of bottle maturation. The complex nose showed notes of black raspberry, cherry, tar and faint floral aromas. The medium acidity was off-set with ripe tannins, medium+ body and medium alcohol. The palate provided flavors of black cherry, raspberry, oak and an undercurrent of bitter bark in the long finish. At $52.99 (USD), the wine is much pricier than its Donna Marzia cousins, but with greater complexity, balance and depth, it is a much more developed wine, which could still benefit from another 2-3 years of ageing.

I have not yet had a chance to taste the esteemed Terra, DOC Leverano Rosso Riserva, which is a blend of 70% Negroamaro and 30% Aglianico. This wine, also from the Selections line, sees 14 months of French oak, 3 months maturation in bottle and retails ~$30.00 (USD).