he name Gravina means "deep ravine," "deep incision" or "chasm" cut into limestone terrain. And the town, which is the source of one of the most highly regarded white wines of Apulia, is properly named, since it is perched on the lip of a deep gorge. The town is balanced on a height overlooking the gorge and the base of the ridge is riddled with grottoes where, in the 5th century, the inhabitants of the ancient Roman town of Silvium took refuge when their community was destroyed.Their descendants remained there until the 9th century, when they shifted to the top of the ridge to found Civitas Gravinae. The wine named for the town is obtained from various types of grapes cultivated in an area of the province of Bari that extends virtually to the border with Basilicata.
The principal varieties used are Malvasia del Chianti, Greco di Tufo and Bianco di Alessano. The Bianco di Alessano takes its name from that of a small community, Alessano, in the southernmost extension of the Salento, an area anciently known as Messapia. The Messapians were descendants of the first immigrants of Cretan origin, who colonized the area. And they were probably responsible for the introduction of the variety, which, along with the Greco di Tufo, was widely cultivated in the territories occupied by that ancient people.
However, the Greco di Tufo's provenance was different. It is a white variety that originated in the Tufo and Solopaca district of the Campanian zone of Avellino, which was strongly influenced by Etruscan civilization. Therefore, Gravina draws not only on two varieties but also two traditions, the Messapian with the Bianco di Alessano and the Campanian-Etruscan with the Greco di Tufo.
