he unusual name of the wine, which is produced in the communes of Lucera, Troia and Biccari in the province of Foggia, is due to an expression in the dialect of the communities that refers to the pouring of wine directly from the cask into the goblet, which is immediately downed and promptly refilled.Lucera, which is situated on an isolated hill to the south of the Gargano promontory, is known throughout Italy for the goodness of its wine and also for its unusual history.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who ruled Apulia in the 13th century, frequently transferred to Lucera the Arabs living in his Sicilian dominions whom he considered troublemakers. Since those Saracens were also his best soldiers, he personally took an interest in their wellbeing.
Luceria Saracenorum (Lucera of the Saracens) was soon equipped with mosques and harems and the town's population of about 60,000 persons consisted almost entirely of Moslems, a considerable enclave at that time. About 500 years after the death of Frederick II, Charles II d'Anjou exterminated nearly all of the Moslems and rebaptized Lucera with the name, which soon fell into disuse, of Città di Santa Maria.
Paradoxically, despite the restrictions on alcoholic beverages of the Moslem religion, Lucera's vineyards were particularly well tended from the 10th century forward and their production has known few moments of decline.
