If this sounds familiar, jump ahead to para- graph two. As recently as the start of this century, a southern Italian region had a dubious reputation for producing massive quantities of bulk wine, most of it used else- where as highly alcoholic juice for blending. Very little was bottled or considered as anything more than unremarkable table wine. Co-ops were the rule, small private wineries the exception. Few gave a thought to what was going on in the vineyards or the cellars.

That was true of Sicily, Calabria and Abruzzo, but also of Puglia. The heel of the boot has always been an agricultural power- house. The flattest region of Italy stretches 215 miles north from the Salento Peninsula to the Gargano highlands, a fertile expanse of mineral-rich soil, sun-drenched Mediterranean climate, and mild sea breezes.