typical Apulian liqueur wine, the Aleatico di Puglia has an ancient tradition. It has a regional denomination because it is produced in most parts of Apulia, although output is greatest in the area immediately surrounding Bari and on the Salentine peninsula.In antiquity, the Salento, situated in the extreme south of the region, was colonized by Illyrians, a branch of the Indo European family of peoples. According to legend, the Illyrians' migration to the area was led by Idomeneus, a name that counted for a great deal in Greek mythology. The link between Idomeneus and Apulia is referred to in several verses written by the Latin poet Virgil many centuries afterward: "...it was here in the Salentino that Idomeneus led his Cretans." On the basis of Virgil's reckoning, Idomeneus and his people arrived in Apulia in 1170 or 1169 BC. In any case, the settlers soon took the name Salentini and it is to them that the introduction of the cultivation of the vine is attributed.
It is still not certain whether the Aleatico variety was already growing in the region or whether it was introduced by the settlers. However, reliable historical sources insist that this vine was growing in southern Italy at least a thousand years before the first colonists arrived. Whatever the truth of such assertions, it is clear that the inhabitants of the Salentine area, who were later known as Messapians, expanded cultivation and improved the wine made from the grapes. The variety is still grown, often on small and much scattered parcels of land, throughout the whole of Apulia. The variety's cluster is small and its grapes are purplish-red in color. Their transparent skins are heavily coated with bloom (a waxlike substance), which gives the whole cluster a deep black appearance.
