Rosso Barletta is a red

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 ...

produced in the ''

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) region of

Barletta Barletta () is a city, ''comune'' of Apulia, in south eastern Italy. Barletta is the capoluogo, together with Andria and Trani, of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It has a population of around 94,700 citizens. The city's territory belong ...

, located in the

province of Barletta-Andria-Trani The Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani is a province of Italy in the Apulia region. The establishment of the province took effect in June 2009, and Andria was appointed as its seat of government on 21 May 2010. It was created from 10 municipalitie ...

of north-central

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

. The DOC is permitted to produce red wine only, made primarily from

Uva di Troia Uva di Troia is a red wine grape variety grown in the Italian region of Apulia, particularly in the areas around Andria and Barletta, and in the Province of Bari. The name probably derives from the town of Troia in the Province of Foggia the lege ...

, and is one of the few wine regions in Italy where

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

is grown and permitted in a DOC wine. The DOC covers over 60

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

(150

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

) that are planted to Uva di Troia,

Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome b ...

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape i ...

, and

. Rosso Barletta is noted in history for being the spark for a

jousting Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament (medieval), tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying t ...

skirmish, now known as the

Challenge of Barletta The Challenge of Barletta (Italian: ''Disfida di Barletta'') was a duel fought in the countryside of Trani, near Barletta, southern Italy, on 13 February 1503, during the Third Italian War, on the plains between Corato and Andria. Overview ...

, involving thirteen local Italian

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

s against thirteen French knights, following an evening of drinking too much Barletta wine. According to the Italian Trade Commission, when the wine region was officially recognised it retained the name ''Rosso Barletta'' in commemoration of the historic connection between the region's wine and the event.

The Challenge of Barletta

The prelude to the

occurred when the French knight

Charles de Touques Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, Monsigneur de La Motte was having dinner at an inn in Barletta. He was served the red wine from the area, and according to reports by

Prospero Colonna Prospero Colonna (1452–1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero in the service of the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of Spain during the Italian Wars. Biography A member of the ancient ...

, grand captain of the army stationed at Barletta, La Motte overindulged in the wine and became uncivil, insulting nearby Italian knights. To defend their honour, the Italians challenged the Frenchmen to a joust, to be held on 13 February 1503. The French knights were defeated by the Italians and the French then left the area.

Production zone

The production zone for the Rosso Barletta DOC includes 60 ha (150 acres) around the coastal city of Barletta, north of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

and

Trani Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...

DOC requirements

The Rosso Barletta DOC is permitted only for the production of red wines. The wine is predominantly a blend, but it can be a

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

that is composed 100% of Uva di Troia. At the very least Uva di Troia must be responsible for at least 70% of the blend with Montepulciano, Sangiovese, and Malbec comprising the remainder of the blend. While the Rosso Barletta DOC is unique in allowing Malbec in its wine, the grape is limited to accounting for no more than 10% of the wine. All grapes destined for Rosso Barletta must be harvested with a yield no greater than 15

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States ...

per hectare. The finished red wine is required to have a minimum

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

of 12%.

Invecchiato

The Rosso Barletta DOC includes a special

labelling Labelling or using a label is describing someone or something in a word or short phrase. For example, the label "criminal" may be used to describe someone who has broken a law. Labelling theory is a theory in sociology which ascribes labelling ...

(similar to ''

Reserva Reserve wine is wine of a higher quality than usual, a wine that has been aged before sale, or both. Traditionally, winemakers would reserve some of their best wine rather than sell it immediately, coining the term. In some countries the use of t ...

'') for aged wines that is called ''Invecchiato''. Unlike ''Reserva'' or ''Superiore'', the Invecchiato designation doesn't carry with it any requirement for increased alcohol levels (though the wines do tend to be higher than the usual 12%). Instead the designation is concerned solely with ageing. Wines produced under this designation must be aged for a minimum of two years, with at least one of those years being in

oak barrels Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a v ...

or some other wooden storage vessel.

Wine styles

According to wine expert

Tom Stevenson Tom Stevenson (born 1951) is a British wine writer and critic. Described by his colleagues as one of today's most prolific wine authors, Stevenson is regarded as the world's leading authority on Champagne.christies.coChristie’s Champagne Mas ...

, Rosso Barletta is a medium bodied, fruity wine with a ruby

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

. It is usually consumed very young.

References