Italy: South - White
2019 GOLD: 3 SILVER: 6 BRONZE: 1 COMMENDED: 6
2018 GOLD: 1 SILVER: 4 BRONZE: 3 COMMENDED: 4
Our tasters saw two definite styles here: fresh, fruity wines at the lower end (tick for gastropubs and house-wine-plus-one level in restaurants) and serious, ambitious, oaked offerings at the top that quite a few of our judges likened stylistically to warm-vintage Burgundy. The middle range they were generally a little less positive about.
Despite these misgivings, we found a good ladder of top medals steadily from £8 up to £20, which suggests that there’s plenty here worth having a look at, particularly if you want some of that quintessential Italian structure, but with more fruit than you’re typically getting from further north.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘It’s something I drink a lot of through warmer months, it’s a go-to region. It produces those lovely aromatic varieties – not really cheap, but they really deliver.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘Floral, citrusy notes but with no differentiation. In the last few years Puglia has really come out with some expressions of coastal wines, so I was expecting more.’ Michael Fiducia, The Royal Automobile Club
‘The high-end wines had the most promise. I would put them by the glass and maybe the really high-end ones in a wine flight.’ Daniel Jonberger, Rockliffe Hall
‘Good consistency of quality. You could tell they come from a very hot place – always on the very ripe yellow fruit and exotic fruits. But most packed with good fresh acidity. I was positively surprised. There’s decent wine for good value here.’ Tomasz Kuszneruk, Pavilion Wine
‘Great cheaper-end stuff, and the more expensive stuff was interesting as well. It’s wine that tastes of summer.’ James Fryer, Woodhead 17
‘The cheap wines were aromatic and easy drinking with nice acidity. The middle range weren’t worth the extra money. The top end was in a different style, like very oaky Chardonnay, similar to Burgundy.’ Clément Loubeyre, The Cross Kenilworth