PUGLIA

FACT FILE:

Production 9.5m hl

Producers 1,300, more than 80% small operations with an average of 1.8ha, producing fewer than 10,000 bottles annually

Ecomony Wine and olive oil production together make up 60% of the region’s economy. Many farmers produce both

For many years certain English people spoke of Puglia as their new Tuscany, a land rich in wine and hilltop towns, which was just ripe for discovery.

As the long heel of the Italian boot, Puglia faces across the Adriatic to Croatia. A fertile but flat landscape devoid of natural defences, Puglia’s northern coastline was for centuries prey to pirates, causing landlords to build masserias, fortified farms behind big walls. But Puglia also