When colonizing Greeks first roamed Italy they named it Oenotria—land of the vine. It was Puglia, located in Italy’s southernmost reaches that was the inspiration for this colorful declaration. Today, Puglia is home to 25 production zones, most significantly the DOC Copertino. The Copertino Cooperative was established in 1935 when a group of visionary growers, from a tiny town in the heart of the Salento peninsula’s wine growing region, decided to produce a higher quality wine from their traditional indigenous grapes. Presently 1,000 growers farm as few as 1,000 acres of vineyard to provide the grapes for Copertino Riserva. Severino Garofano, long regarded as the most authoritative and respected enologist in the Salento, carries on and advances a proud tradition. Once viewed almost solely as a resource for blending grapes, the Salento and Copertino now put an accent on premium quality. It is Garofano who is often credited for being the catalyst for the DOC Copertino’s rapidly improving wines. He makes his wines from a blend of 95% Negro Amaro and 5% Malvasia Nera. They combine to create a powerful, inky wine that is silky textured with remarkable depth, complexity and character.