Wine Region: Puglia

(2025) Laithwaites' pitch on this is that it is made from low-yielding, century-old heirloom Negroamaro and Primitivo vines, saved from the bulldozer by a winemaker who understood their value. The 'Brutto' epithet certainly doesn't apply to the wine, which has a modest 12.5% alcohol, but to the thick, contorted trunks of the ancient vines. The wine is made for Laithwaites by Angelo Maci, winemaker at the Puglian estate of Cantina Due Palme. It is voluptuously soft, rich, pulpy and spicy on the nose, but there's a dusty, briary herb quality too that adds interest. There is a good whack of residual sugar here giving this definite sweetness. Juicy red fruit fills the mid-palate. The finish shows minimal tannin, but acidity gives freshness.

(2023) Once known as 'Fiano Minutolo' when the grape was mistakenly identified as Fiano (the famous grape from neighbouring Campania), this Puglian variety of unknown origin is much more aromatic. There's a slightly pinkish tinge to the colour . On the nose, lots of floral and peach down prettiness, chamomile and a lemon balm fragrance. Despite having only 12.5% alcohol, there is body and texture in the mouth, and while the peach ripeness of the fruit is delicious on the mid palate, a freshening zip of citrus and touch of salty, herby savouriness gives lovely balance. Watch the video for more information.

(2023) A blend of 80% Negroamaro and 20% Primitivo from Salento in Puglia, the wine region that forms the heel of Italy's 'boot'. There's a soft rim to the deep ruby colour, then tobacco-spiced, autumnal notes that are briary and truffly. In the mouth the fruit is sweet and copious. Indeed, the sweetness overwhelms slightly, making this one for those who appreciate a dollop of residual sugar in their reds, which I really, really don't. £10.49 as part of a mixed dozen.

(2023) 100% Negroamaro from the prized appellation of Salice Salentino in Puglia, the 'heel' of Italy. This weighs in with a relatively lightweight 13% alcohol, which for Puglia, is modest. That gives this wine a certain freshness, and it has a palish ruby colour to match. Herb, cherry and stony aromas are breezy and savoury, but there is sweetness of fruit too. In the mouth it is quite racy, a bittersweet twist of Pontefract-cake liquorice to the red plum juicy fruit. Nicely done, no attempt at being a 'blockbuster', but food-friendly and well-balanced.

(2022) There's 75% Nero di Troia blended with Primitivo in this wine, so a blend of indigenous varieties. There's a lifted character here, floral and blueberry perfume. In the mouth nine grams of residual sugar adds a little apparent sweetness, for easy drinking pizza and pasta-bashing pleasure.

(2022) An unusual cross-regional blend from Abruzzo (Montepulciano and Sangiovese) and Puglia (Primitivo and Negroamaro) that sees ageing in both French and American oak. Dark and saturated, with a vinous, dark cherry and plum character, a classy touch of oak adding some spice and cocoa. Very pure and ripe fruit, supple and plush, the tannins are fine and chocolaty, the cherry-ripe acidity balances, in a very classy wine at an attractive price.

(2021) This wine from the small DOC of Ostuni, is made from the Ottavienello variety, the local name for the Cinsault grape. There's a lovely fragrance here, a hint of violets and dried aromatic herbs, ripe red fruits and a certain earthy, briar quality. The palate is flooded with sweet, plush fruit, but there's an underpinning of coffee and cream, a little truffle and Pinot-like mushroom that suffuses the finish, tannins ripe and creamy and excellent acid balance. What a delicious wine. Watch the video for more information and food matching ideas.

(2021) Adorned with '91 Point' stickers from Lidl's in-house critic, but that is best taken with a very large pinch of salt: by any standards this is a pleasant white wine, but ranking it with the fine wines of the world requires a big stretch of the imagination. Made from partially dried grapes, this does not come from Avellino in Campania, home of the most famous Fiano, and indeed may be the local Puglian variant, Fiano Minutolo (I don't know the definitive answer). It has creamy and ripe pear fruit on the nose, a little bit of Picpoul-like herbs, then a sweet-fruited and just off-dry palate, with good stone fruit, apple and lemon zest to finish.

(2020) Pouring a medium-pale, quite burnished, orangey-pink, this has dry seeds and herbs on the nose, a little spice, and then a bright melon and pomegratate fruitiness. Dry and savoury on the palate, there is a nicely sour and tart edge of underripe plum and raspberry, giving this a very gastronomic, digestible feel. A sweetness to the fruit and creaminess makes it very approachable, within an overall framework of savouriness.

(2020) This is a classic Primitivo from Salento in Puglia, and a particularly bold and juicy example emphasising the exuberant dark fruit profile of the wine. Spices, damson plum and blackcurrant on the nose suggests a certain plushness, and that's borne out on the palate, where a creamy weight of black fruit and supple texture fill the mouth, great sweetness to the fruit, but a very nicely sour and savoury edge of bittersweetness: plum skins and tangy orange acids, the chocolaty tannins and six months in oak barrels adding even more smoothness to the finish. Great value here.