Martina Franca (often just 'Martina' for short) is a DOC of Puglia, south-eastern Italy. It was introduced in June 1969, making it one of the oldest DOCs in the region, and indeed in Italy.
As one of very few DOC-level white wines from southern Puglia, Martina Franca stands out from its neighbors. The wines are made from the Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano grape varieties, the former accounting for 50–60% of the blend, the latter 35–50%.
Three other local varieties (Fiano, Bombino and Malvasia Bianco) are also permitted in the wines in tiny amounts (maximum 5%) to allow for planting variations among the vineyards. This allowance was of particular importance when the appellation laws were first drafted back in 1969; in those days many of the region's vines were very old, and had been planted in the days before reliable vine husbandry. Some of the surviving vineyards here are ancient, just like the olives groves with which they share the land.
The Martina Franca viticultural zone covers a roughly circular area around the eponymous town of Martina Franca, which lies ten miles (16km) inland from the Adriatic Coast (and roughly the same distance from the Gulf of Taranto in the other direction).
The terroir here is subtly different from the rest of southern Puglia: the coastal hills to the south are a topographical distinction. They create a slightly cooler mesoclimate, which contributes significantly to the area's suitability to fresh-styled white wines rather than the rustic reds which dominate the rest of Puglia's wine production.
Puglia is now beginning to shake off its 20th-century reputation as a source of blending wines as baked tasting and flat as the land itself. A number of producers throughout the region now focus on quality rather than quantity, and the Martina Franca name will no doubt benefit from this.
