Italy has many DOCG and DOC’ wines that definitely wouldn’t be considered bargains, so they might be best left for your weekend splurge.  Drinking red wine every day is good for the soul but as most of us don’t have unlimited funds we need out some bargain alternatives.  The grande problema with this is that the lowest prices for many DOC, and certainly all DOCG wines, is that they can be pretty underwhelming.  Most prevalent example is a $10- $15USD Chianti as they are typically just OK.  They certainly won’t kill you but they don’t leave you wanting another bottle.

Business 101 says charge what the market will bear so the price of the more prestigious DOC and DOCG wines is a lot higher than the DOC and DOCG wines produced in lesser know regions.  Puglia is a great example of a region that produces very good wines that are a much better value.   For people who were smoking weed at school instead of attending their geography class, Puglia is at the heel of the boot shaped peninsula of Italy. This region is blessed with a Mediterranean climate with long summers and moderate temperatures.  The predominant grape in the region is Negroamaro.  It yields a rich,  fruit forward profile where the fruit is obvious up front and it drives the taste of the wine, particularly when compared to other Italian grapes including Sangiovese ( Tuscany ) and Nebbiolo ( Piedmont )

An interesting factoid is that Puglia was Italy’s largest production region by volume in 2017.  It dwarfed Tuscany where production was less than a quarter of Puglia’s.  You wouldn’t know it going to your local wine shops, as there are usually many more choices from Tuscany.  The dilemma Puglia has faced for centuries is that they had a reputation for producing cheap vino da tavola, or what the French call vin de table, and are bottom of the official classification.  Luckily this has changed significantly over the past couple decades and Puglia is now producing some fantastic wines at very affordable prices.

Puglia Wines Today

Puglia now has 4 DOCG and 29 DOC wines.  These designations are only awarded if the wine production is consistently good and they are now able to play in the big boy sandbox.  Commonly used grapes in this region are the Primitivo and the indigenous Negroamaro.  If you are interested some completely useless trivia, recent DNA research has proven that both the Italian Primativo grape and the American Zinfandel grape are genetic clones of the Croatian Crljenak Kaštelanski grape and I’ll give you a nickel if you can pronounce that!

General Taste Profile

Both Primitivo and Negroamaro wines are typically fruit forward, with Primativo being typically full-bodied and Negroamaro medium bodied making them pretty easy to chug from bottle.  The tannin and acidity are relatively low compared to Sangiovese and Nebbiolo which them great for food pairing and for straight up quaffing.

Shut up and Take my Money !!  Where do we Start???

To locate some nice wines from Puglia, “Puglia Negroamaro” and “Puglia Primitivo” are good online search terms and you should be able to find some easy drinking wines for  $8-$15USD a bottle.

The best bargains I’ve found are in the catch-all Puglia IGT /IGP   and Salento IGT / IGP selections.  The IGT / IGP  rules of Puglia are not very restrictive and there is a dizzying array of grape blends permitted.  If you look for Negroamaro and Primitivo on the label you should be able to find some good wines for less than $15USD. Lots of producers use both the Negroamaro and Primitivo so it may be interesting to try both side by each and see which variety you prefer

If you want to go up a notch, try some DOC ‘s like Salice Salentino DOC, Brindisi DOC or  Copertino DOC .  These wines have a minimum of 90%, 85% and 70% Negroamaro grapes respectively and have more restrictive production rules.  They generally range from $15USD to $20USD and often have a more complex taste.

For Primitivo and Zinfandel fans, you can’t go wrong with a Primitivo di Manduria DOC which has a minimum of 85% Primativo grapes.  These wines tend to command prices closer to $20USD, so are not much of a bargain compared to most of the Negroamaro blends.

Puglia Summary

The Puglia region is less prestigious than the exalted regions of Tuscany,  Piedmonte and Valpolicella so they typically can’t command the higher prices. This is great news for us as fantastic wines are being produced there at prices that are a relative bargain.

Let’s face it, we all love bargain wines, not because we spend less but because we can drink more.  Let’s all pick up a couple of bottles from Puglia IGT / IGP   and Salento IGT/IGP to enjoy and wash down the Cheetos while binging on our favorite Netflix series.

Happy drinking!