The heel of Italy is an extraordinary place. Puglia, or Le Puglie, is what Italians call the area. It's probably best known for ports; Bari, Brindisi, Gallipoli and Taranto, all of which have long histories as trading centres with the Eastern Mediterranean. Apart from the coastal plains which are rarely more than ten kilometres wide, its countryside is composed of rolling hills, nearly all of which are cultivated. As a centre of horticulture it's unsurpassed in Italy; wheat, maize, olives and vines are intensely cultivated. It differs from much of southern Italy in that it's almost maniacally manicured. Each dry stone wall is in perfect order, every ancient olive tree is pruned, it's weeded between the lines of vines, faggots of carefully bound clippings are stacked for later use. Strange, beehive-like stone houses called 'trulli' dot the landscape, an architectural tradition found nowhere else in Italy.

You could argue that the Pugliesi are not descendants of the Latins. This was Samnite country 2,500 years ago, part of Greater Greece, and these neat, industrious people are their descendants. There are parts of Puglia where the local dialect isn't a corruption of Latin, but is a Greek derivative instead, which backs up that contention. Despite sea on three sides with its cooling effect, summers are hot in Puglia. Ripe, mature grapes is the norm and traditionally these were sold all across Italy for vinification where nature had not been so bountiful, or bland, neutral wines were made for sale to the northern manufacturers of vermouth.

Just like the development of Sicilian wines, growers in Puglia have realised that giving their grapes to others to vinify makes poor commercial sense. In the last thirty years Puglia has registered a large number of wines that were once sold in bulk. They have worked extensively with the Primitivo grape, which is thought to be the antecedent of the Californian Zinfandel, and the Aglianico - which when pronounced in Italian sounds like 'ellenico', or 'Greek', just like their civilisation. The other effect of Puglia increasingly vinifying its own grapes - and thus depriving the northern markets of them - has been an influx of well-known wineries buying into the area. The Tuscan firm of Antinori has a winery to the west of Bari on the stony banks of the Murge river, called the Tormaresca Estate where they currently make a Chardonnay and a red; a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Aglianico.

Wine of the Week

Tormaresca Aglianico/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

The three grape varieties are harvested and vinified separately, using a soft pressing and malolactic fermentation in steel tanks. After blending the wine is stored in steel before bottling. The Cabernet and Merlot give the wine structure, but the earthy terroir of the Aglianico predominates. It benefits from opening an hour or so before drinking. If you're wondering what 'trulli' look like, there's a picture on the label.

As yet not widely available - Wine Cellar, Maynooth and Kelly's in Chapelizod.
RRP £7.69