Heading west from Ostuni our first visit was to the amazing I Pastini winery.
Situated outside of the town of Martina Franca, this a wonderful family estate that encompasses the Locorontondo DOC and Gioia del Colle DOC areas.
The estate oozes history, has some wonderful old farm buildings and an original Trullo! Add to that a train line that passes through the vineyards plus some spanking new kit 
We tasted three grape varieties that very few people had heard of: Verdeca – not related to Verdejo or Verdelho, Minutolo and Susumamiello. Two whites and a red.
Clean fresh fruit, great story and lovely people.
In contrast, we headed south towards Taranto and visited the 2 million bottle producer Varvaglione.
Based in the Primitivo di Manduria DOC we tasted a great array of Negroamaro and Primitivo reds, Malvasia and Verdeca whites and a delicious Rosato – also made from Negroamaro.
Another highlight was witnessing the 3000 bottle per hour bottling line. From empty to bottle to sealed in a six pack – a joy to behold!
Our final stop was on our route back to Lecce – Cantine Solaperto. They are a major producer of Primitivo di Manduria and we saw just how high the alcohol can get.
Their top wines ranged from 14.5% to 16.5% and the top DOCG – Primitivo Dolce Naturale was 17%!
The suburbs of Lecce arte pretty dull but once you get to the historic centre it is a revelation! Incredibly beautiful and historic, a colosseum and loads of Roman architecture.