Population: 4.200.000
Regional Capital: Bari
Provinces: Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, Taranto
Vineyards planted: 144.000 hectares
Main red varietals: Negroamaro, Primitivo, Malvasia Nera, Uva di Troia.
Main white varietals: Verdeca, Bombino Bianco, Bianco d'Alessano, Chardonnay.

The southern portion of the region is a flat and fertile peninsula that forms the characteristic heel of the Italian "boot".
Apulia is the longest and one of the most fertile regions in the south of Italy. Fiftythree percent of the land is plains and fortyfive percent hills, making it also the flattest Italian region. Eighty percent of its territory is given over to agriculture, making it the largest producer of wine in Italy (producing around seventeen percent of the national total). Apulia has about fifty indigenous varietals, a tremendous asset to its future in the wine business. Having a Mediterranean climate and an exceptional soil for growing grapes (a calcareous base overlain by topsoil rich in oxide) it is ideal for viticulture. Although Apulia has hot and dry summers, cool nights, due to the proximity to both the Adriatic and the Ionian sea, retard ripening and heighten the aromas and structure of the wines. Thus the best conditions are set for red varietals.
Apulia was settled by several Italic tribes and by Greek colonists before it was conquered by Rome in the 4th century B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Apulia was controlled at alternate times by the Goths, the Lombards, the Byzantines, the Turks and the Venetians.
The Romans were very active in this fertile region, building many public works, including the most important road built until then, the "Appia". This road going from Rome to Brindisi is still in use. It took many years to build, with thousands of enslaved workers and the best architects of the Roman Empire. Federico II (1,300 AC), being truly in love with this region, created many public works as well as raising viticulture to new heights for his time.