Leverano is a geographically tiny DOC of the Puglia wine region in south-eastern Italy. It is named after the town of the same name, which lies a few miles inland from the Gulf of Taranto coastline on the Salento peninsula. The DOC's catchment area (established in 1979) extends only three miles, arcing around the northern edge of the town as far as Veglie, where Salice Salentino country begins. This is classic Puglia countryside: flat, hot, dry, and replete with olive groves to the south and west of Leverano, and grapes to the north and east.
Puglia produces almost 50% of Italy's national olive-oil output and has long been known as a prolific wine generator. Historically, high grape yields and the flat, baked wines which they created gave many of the region's wines a reputation of low quality – but Leverano, along with several of its neighbors, is now home to a growing number of winemakers who favor quality over quantity. As the world market demands high-quality, origin-specific wines, the mass-produced blending wines once made here are becoming a thing of the past.
The DOC covers red, rose and white wines, in descending order of varieties most commonly produced. Negroamaro is the variety of choice of the first two, accounting for a required minimum 65% of any blend. The remaining 35% may be composed of Malvasia Nera, Sangiovese and Montepulciano. In the white wines, Malvasia Bianca makes up the lion's share of the blend, with Trebbiano and Bombino Bianco added at the discretion of the winemaker.
Despite being wedged between the Adriatic Sea and the Gulf of Taranto, the climate here is hot and dry. Puglia's name derives from the Latin phrase a pluvia, meaning 'without rain'. Southern Italy has been nicknamed Il Mezzogiorno, meaning 'the midday', due to its long, hot summers (le Midi in southern France has precisely the same meaning and origin). With 300 sunny days each year and mid-summer afternoon temperatures regularly surpassing 40C, the grapes which grow here develop high levels of sugar over the growing season. The wines made from these grapes are subsequently high in alcohol, and it is one of the key challenges for Leverano winemakers to harness this and craft balanced, attractive wines.
