Notardomenico is one of the most intriguing and least-known grapes of southern Italy. Native to Puglia, it is a red variety that quietly overturns almost everything people expect from the sun-baked south: in place of sheer power and heat, Notardomenico offers freshness, lift and elegance. For anyone ready to look past the famous names — Primitivo, Negroamaro, Nero di Troia — it is a discovery well worth making.
Notardomenico: a rare grape that is hard to find
Rarity is central to the Notardomenico story. This native grape survives in only a handful of small plots across Puglia, and even within Italy it remains a genuine niche. Beyond the region it is almost impossible to come across — you will rarely see Notardomenico on a wine list, and rarer still bottled as a wine in its own right.
For most of its long history the grape has played a supporting role, blended in small amounts to lend structure, acidity and perfume to other Apulian wines rather than taking the lead. A bottle made entirely from Notardomenico is genuinely uncommon, which is exactly what makes finding one feel like a small privilege — and a taste of something most wine lovers have never encountered.
An ancient, indigenous Apulian variety
Notardomenico is not a modern creation but an old, indigenous vine with deep roots in Puglia, historically associated with the countryside of the province of Brindisi. It was already documented in Apulian vineyards back in the nineteenth century, and its cultivation has always been modest — a grape kept alive by tradition rather than trend.
Today it endures thanks to a small number of committed growers who have chosen to protect and recover it instead of replanting with more commercial varieties. In a very real sense, every glass of Notardomenico is a piece of Apulian heritage rescued from the edge of disappearing — which is a large part of its quiet charm.
What Notardomenico tastes like
In the glass, Notardomenico breaks the mould of the heavy southern red from the very first pour. The colour is a bright, luminous ruby — light and clear rather than dense — the first sign that this is a wine built on finesse rather than muscle.
The bouquet is fresh and fragrant, all about crisp red fruit: pure, underripe berries, wild strawberry and red cherry, deliberately free of any heavy or jammy character. On the palate the wine is light-bodied, extremely refreshing and highly drinkable. Its signature is an accentuated, mouth-watering acidity, beautifully balanced by very soft, delicate tannins.
The result is a crisp, lively red that seems to bottle its breezy, high-altitude home. Notardomenico is the very definition of a food wine — clean, energetic and impossible to tire of, the kind of glass that quietly disappears over a good meal.
382 Notardomenico: a wine born at 382 metres
The Notardomenico in our selection is 382 Notardomenico, a rare, certified-organic red from the historic Giuliani estate in Puglia. The name is not a marketing flourish but the soul of the wine: 382 is the altitude, in metres, of the hills where the Notardomenico vines grow, 382 metres above the sea. Three numbers that hold a whole landscape of wind, light and earth — high enough to look far into the distance, yet close enough to the land never to forget its roots.
The Giuliani family have been crafting authentic Apulian wines since 1886, guided by a simple philosophy: love for the land, passion for wine. Working only with indigenous grapes across the sun-baked hills between Turi and Gioia del Colle — the same terroir behind their award-winning Primitivo di Gioia del Colle — they vinify Notardomenico courageously on its own, 100% pure and under strict organic farming. It is a deliberate return to the roots of Puglia.
Everything in the cellar serves the grape’s delicate nature. The fruit is grown on medium-textured soils of limestone and clay typical of the Murgia barese, then gently destemmed and fermented under controlled temperatures to preserve its fresh fruit, natural acidity and fine aromatics, before resting in stainless steel and bottle for four to six months. The result is Puglia IGT, from the 2025 harvest, at a gentle 13% alcohol.
At the table, 382 Notardomenico is wonderfully versatile. Served at around 18°C, its bright acidity and soft tannins make it a natural partner for mixed roasts, game and mushrooms, hearty meat dishes and ragù, and hard aged cheeses — cutting through richer flavours and leaving the palate clean. If you enjoy exploring Puglia’s native grapes, you will find more rare bottles and producer stories in our Wine Guide.
Explore our Notardomenico
Discover the wine behind the story — a rare, organic expression of one of Puglia's most elusive native grapes.
