Tour season starts in Puglia

puglia-wine-tour-Lecce-amphitheatreIt is tour season once again and we are kicking off our programme in Puglia.

Fabulous weather greeted us in Bari on Wednesday with pristine blue skies and 24 degrees.

We are staying in the wonderful town of Lecce – jammed full of Baroque architecture and Roman ruins.

 

Dinner at Osteria degli Spiriti on Wednesday eveningOur first night dinner was held in the stylish Osteria degli Spiriti. Mentioned in the Michelin Guide and family run we enjoyed a wonderful insight into Puglian cuisine.

A selection of antipasti included a courgette flan, marinated aubergines and a red pepper soufflé. Cherry tomatoes and orecchiette pasta was up next before moving on to a delicious stuffed beef paupiette – a thin strip of beef rolled and stuffed with vegetables and a rich sauce. Despite groaning stomachs we managed to force down some feather light cheesecake before heading off to prepare for the first full day.

 

Thursday morning greeted us with the odd cloud which was soon burnt off by an uncharacteristically hot April sun.

Barrel cellar at Cantine SolopertoOur destination was the town of Manduria – the spiritual home of the Primitivo grape. This grape (known as Zinfandel in the USA) is much prized in Puglia and we experienced a superb range of wines at Cantine Soloperto. This family owned property pioneered the development of Primitivo in the early 70’s by actually bottling it and selling it as quality wine. The significance of this fact is that at this time Puglia generally didn’t bottle – they would ship the wine around in bulk – particularly to the north of Italy to bolster up the lighter reds or to make vermouth. It would be sold locally from the tank and people would fill up their own containers. Soloperto were even bottling their wines before the DOC was introduced in 1974.

Having tasted a light fresh white DOC Locorotondo made from the Verdeca grape and a delicate Rose from Negroamaro we moved onto the main event. Three Primitivo di Manduria wines that showed the evolution of Primitivo – from a smooth easy drinking style through to a super intense 17% example that was incredibly well balanced. We finished off with the Nektare Dolce Naturale. The Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale was the first wine in Puglia to receive a DOCG – the highest status in Italian wine law. A minimum of 80 gms/l residual sugar make this a delicious sweet wine without being too sickly or unctuous and yet retaining the typical richness that Primitivo delivers.

From Manduria we headed back towards Lecce and to the small town of Guagnano – home of Vini Cantele.

There were some striking similarities between Cantele and Soloperto: both family owned, production of around 1.5million bottles, innovative and prepared to lead the crowd rather than follow it. Cantele supplied vast quantities of wine to well-known supermarket chains in both the UK and the US before switching a few years ago to focus on smaller volume, higher quality markets. This lead to a halving of production and a potentially risky venture into lesser known markets. They appear to have achieved success with great aplomb as we availed ourselves of the opportunity to taste a top class range of wines accompanied by a delicious four course lunch.

The Verdeca grape was tasted first again followed by a wonderfully fruity Fiano. Fiano is often more associated with the area around Naples but is increasingly popular in Puglia. Their barrel fermented Chardonnay was a cracking example – showing a delicious poise and elegance.

Lunch at Vini Cantele - ThursdayShowing their innovative streak, Cantele have just released their first Metodo Classico sparkling wine with 32 months on the lees. Made from Negroamaro, this was a delicious first experience of fizz made from this grape.

Lunch was a wonderful platter of roast vegetables, orecchiette pasta with fresh mozzarella, a main course of stuffed vegetables and rounded off with a delicious grape jam shortcrust local pastry speciality. The reds were beautifully concentrated and balanced – a full bodied Negroamaro followed by their top wine – Fanoi – a superb Primitivo.

 

Altogether a great start to our tour.