Southern Italy: Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria & Molise

BY ERIC GUIDO | MARCH 27, 2025 

We publish coverage of the smaller regions in Southern Italy, which include Molise, Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria, every two years. This is mostly because the number of essential wines made in each of these regions is rather small. With the exception of Vulture and a handful of notable producers in each region mentioned above, much of the wine made in Southern Italy is meant for early consumption and easy drinking, or is otherwise not especially remarkable. This isn’t the first time I’ve publicly stated this; the fact remains that each time I set out to write this report, very few new wineries submit new releases.

That said, there are tremendous opportunities for growth and high-quality wine production in Southern Italy. I see no reason why these regions can’t excel. Some might argue that the extremely warm and dry conditions in the south yield wines excessively high in alcohol and residual sugar. But many producers within these regions craft balanced and complex wines worthy of collectors’ cellars. Unfortunately, most wineries here are hesitant to disrupt the status quo. What’s more, seldom do young winemakers from these areas reach out to discuss their innovations in local winemaking or exciting new projects. This happens often in the other regions I review, but not here.

The good news is that there are wines worth talking about, just not as many as there should be. In the notes that follow, readers will find eye-opening and cellar-worthy Aglianico from Puglia and Vulture, deeply complex Primitivo that can stand up to the great California Zinfandels, Ciro that rivals Barolo and Barbaresco, and a few surprisingly jaw-dropping Fianos.

The Ceraudo vineyards in Calabria

Pugliese Potential

I want nothing more than for Puglia to succeed. The Italian side of my family originates from Puglia. The region’s traditional cuisines filled our dinner table when I was a child. Yet, when it came to wine, all that mattered to my family was whether it was white or red. To this day, I can’t say if I ever tasted anything at that table that moved me. I certainly didn’t seek sips from my grandparents’ cups (they didn’t use fancy glassware). When learning about wine decades ago, I looked to Puglia, but what I found didn’t excite me. Revisiting the region over the years, I longed to see an uptick in quality, but instead, I found only a handful of wineries that moved the needle. Some of these wineries have begun to do amazing things, cementing my belief in the potential of Puglia. But on a larger scale, the region is simply not there yet. 

Why not? 

Much of this has to do with surmaturation, a practice that isn’t often discussed but is utilized more often than not in regions like Puglia. Surmaturation refers to late-harvesting fruit beyond technical ripeness in order to increase the concentration of sugars, acids and aromas. This is why the average Primitivo, juicy and fresh as it might seem, sports 15-16.5% alcohol and residual sugar from 8-10 grams per liter. The use of surmaturation prevents wineries from creating wines with nuance, complexity and the ability to age.