Ostuni is a white or ''

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. ...

'' style

Italian wine Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted for ...

awarded ''

Denominazione di Origine Controllata The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipic ...

'' (DOC) status in 1972, in the

Province of Brindisi The Province of Brindisi ( it, Provincia di Brindisi) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Brindisi. It has an area of and a total population of 401,652 (2013). Geography The Province of Brindisi is situated in ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 221 Hungry Minds 2001 The zone of production of the area is limited to the

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

Ostuni Ostuni ( nap, label= Barese, Ostune; scn, label=Salentino, Stune) is a city and ''comune'', located about 8 km from the coast, in the province of Brindisi, region of Apulia, Italy. The town has a population of about 32,000 during the winter ...

Carovigno Carovigno ( Carovignese: ; la, Carbina) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. The town of Carovigno has a population of 17,000 residents. Though it is small, it provides a wide array of site ...

San Vito dei Normanni San Vito dei Normanni ( Sanvitese: ) is an Italian town of 19,947 inhabitants of the province of Brindisi in Apulia. The inhabitants are called Sanvitesi (or Santuvitisi in dialect) and the town is sometimes referred to as San Vito. Physical geog ...

San Michele Salentino San Michele Salentino is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi in Apulia, on the south-east Italian coast. Its main economic activities are the growing of olives and grapes. International relations San Michele Salentino is twinned with: * ...

and parts of the communes of

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

Latiano Latiano ( Brindisino: ; Leccese: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi in Apulia, on the southeast coast of Italy. Its main economic activities are tourism and the growing of olives and grapes. Bartolo Longo Bartolo Longo (February 1 ...

and

Ceglie Messapica Ceglie Messapica (; scn, label= Brindisino, Cégghie) is a town, and ''comune'', located in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy, in the traditional area called Salento. Geography The area of Ceglie Messapica is loca ...

.La Terra di Puglia
Vini: Ostuni
/ref>

Climate and geography

The Ostuni region has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

influenced by its proximity to the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. Situated among three small mountains at the edge of the

Murge The Altopiano delle Murge (Italian for "Murge plateau") is a karst topographic plateau of rectangular shape in southern Italy. Most of it lies within Apulia and corresponds with the sub-region known as Murgia or Le Murge. The plateau lies mainl ...

range, vineyards in the area experience diverse

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

and ''

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

'' variations. The DOC gets its name from the nearby town of

.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 189 Firefly Books 2004

Grape varieties

The primary

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

of the DOC classified red wine is

Ottavianello Cinsaut or Cinsault ( ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache and Ca ...

(also known as Cinsaut in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), with the wine sometimes labeled as ''Ostuni Ottavianello''. Ottavnianello must comprise at least 85% of the blend. Up to 15% may consist of

Negroamaro Negroamaro (seldom Negro amaro; meaning "black ndbitter") is a red wine grape variety native to southern Italy. It is grown almost exclusively in Apulia and particularly in Salento, the peninsula which can be visualised as the "heel" of Italy. T ...

and/or

Malvasia Nera Malvasia (, also known as Malvazia) is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. I ...

and/or Notar Domenico and/or Sussumaniello grapes. The white DOC classified wine, Ostuni Bianco, is composed of a blend of mostly Impigno and Francavilla. Impigno must account for at least 50% of the blend with Francavilla usually comprising the remainder. DOC regulations also permit an inclusion up to 10% of Bianco de Alessano and/or

Verdeca Verdeca is a white Italian wine grape variety that is primarily grown in Apulia in southern Italy where ampelographers believe that the grape may have originated. In Apulia, it is one of the main grapes in the ''Denominazione di origine contro ...

Wines

Ostuni Ottavianello is characterized by its light body and pale cherry color. Both the red and white Ostuni wines are almost always dry. In recent years the wines of Ostuni have garnered more international interest as the overall quality level has improved with investments in

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

and

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

Production

''Province, vintage, volume in

litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

s'' MiPAAF (Ministero delle Politiche Agricoli Alimentari e Forestali),
Banca Dati Vini DOC, DOCG: Ostuni Ottavianello
/ref> *Brindisi (1990/91) 1,330 *Brindisi (1991/92) 7,397 *Brindisi (1992/93) 9,479 *Brindisi (1993/94) 8,526 *Brindisi (1994/95) 12,082 *Brindisi (1995/96) 4,888

References

{{reflist

External links

* ItalianMade.com
WINES: Ostuni DOC: Map, Varieties and Types
Italian DOC Wines of Apulia