Puglia - day 2

 

Cantina Coppola - near Gallipoli

On day 2 I  visited 4 wineries. Copolla was the first one. It turns out it's been around since 1489 and it has nothing to do with the Copolla winery in Napa. I usually try to avoid wineries that are 100% marketing and 0% good quality wine and I was afraid that was the case here.

They, like many old wineries, used to sell their wine in bulk to be blended by winemakers in the more northern part of Europe until after the 2nd World War. And then they started bottling their rose wine. And then the rest.

And a few very interesting points.

First, they have better Negro Amaro than Primitivo (at least according to my taste). They have a Negro Amaro that is 100% done in stainless steel, with no oak, which they start serving after 3 years of aging. And it turns out, as for many wines from the region, that after you take the time to let the wine open, it's a very nice aromatic, not too acid (despite the grape and stainless) wine. Name Doxi.

And even more interesting, they actually recommend aging it, even if it has not touched oak, for 10-20 years. I bought a bought of 2012 one as well. I am curious to do a vertical testing.

I also bought a few more whites, which they also recommend aging, also verticals. And some oaked wines as well, and as usual for this winery, a few verticals. 

For each of their wines, they still had 2012, 2013, 2014, and for some of them even 2007 or so.

100% worth the visit! Must go. Very nice people too.

Cantina Fiorentino

Here the wines I tried were ok. They also had a "port" like wine, but I thought it was closer to a sherry. However, the fun part was that they were serving wine wholesale using pumps that looked like gas station pumps. They had 4 wines by the pump: White, Rose, Primitivo and Negro Amaro.

The most interesting part? their bulk wine is 1.5EUR per liter. At the time of writing gas here is about 2 EUR per litre. So wine is cheaper than gas. I wonder if you can run a vehicle with wine ;)  While I was there for 30 min or so 3 or 4 local people came in with 5L plastic transparent jugs and bought their wine... I wonder what they do with it that they buy 5L at a time in 1 container. No way you can finish it before it turns sour unless it's for an event perhaps? Or for their pools? ;)  Have you ever bathed in wine yet ?

Origano - wine tasting and lunch

I really recommend this little restaurant for lunch. They also offer wine pairings ( more than just tasting) but the pairings of course match the food. They had quite a few nice whites. I didn't get to try their reds because of what I ordered for lunch. Perhaps a future time.

However, the lunch alone is worth the drive. Beautiful, clean, hard to find LOL, And a lot of charm in the backyard. 

And last but not least 

Castel di Salve

Also, an older winery that was purchased by the present family in the 1920s I think. I understood that the present owner has a Duke title. 

I also strongly recommend to visit! 

First and most pleasant: the owner, the father, stopped by at the beginning to say hi and chat. They used to sell the wine in bulk. Then via distributors, for 1 or 2 EUR per liter. And then they said: why not just sell it directly to consumers for a whooping 8.5EUR a bottle? And here they are.

The son, who did our tastings, was very nice, and of course very knowledgeable. He did some training in Champagne and brought some fun ideas ( check their brochure that has pictures of the wine bottles with the items that give the aromas that are in the wine). And between him and a charming lady who gives tours, they can do tours in English, French, Italian of course, Spanish, Portuguese, and German! Very well-organized tours. With pens, water, light snacks. Exactly like in the US. Must visit!

Oh and of course great wines. I particularly liked a few things here :

1. Their usage of the Verdeca is very interesting. You can see the aromas and the flavors this grape gives very cleanly and intensely.

2. And the same style exercise with the Malvasia Nera. They make it pure. They blend it. And you can learn and understand it very clearly.

Very reasonable prices as well. Must visit!

Puglia - Lecce

Foreward

We came to Puglia very excited after trying many red thick, flavorful, deep, and smooth Primitivo and Negro Amaro in various places (mostly New York). 

We were surprised by a few things:

1. Italian wineries, at least in Puglia, at least in the second half of September, make trying their wines difficult. Many only organize tastings by appointment. And when you walk in there can be any number of employees on their phone-instagram at the front desk. If you didn't set an appointment you can't taste their wines. And if their appointment schedule is full, with 2 appointments per half day, they are too busy.

2. Italian wineries, at least in Puglia, have hours that vary depending on ... the mood of the owner? Some are open only in the morning 10am to 12:30 or 1pm. Some are open only from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Some are open from 10am to 3pm only. Some are open 10am to 1pm and 4:30 to 7:30pm. Anyway, you see the pictures, combined with the scheduling problem above, especially if you don't have appointments.

3. Oh, sometimes your hotel concierge forgets to do any calls. I guess it doesn't happen at all hotels. 

4. Perhaps also very important: locally, at the winery, an average bottle of wine (that's good!) is 5 EUR. And an amazing bottle of wine? 35 EUR. So yes, the prices are unbeatable.

5. But most importantly, the rose and white wines are actually really good as well!

And thus, the visits started.

Annibal -

Some of the nicest and most accommodating people and winery we have seen. We had no appointment. In fact they were serving a wine tasting to a couple from Bologna. And they welcomed us.

(The name: apparently Hannibal Barca, THE Hannibal, after getting tired of beating the Romans in every bottle but not winning the war, spent time in the region thinking what to do next. Hence the name of the winery).

Here we discovered, as I already mentioned, good whites, mineral and flavorful, equilibrated. Good Rose. And we also appreciated their Primitivo. All except 1 of their wines were never in oak barrels, just metal tanks (stainless). To be honest the 1 wine that had been in the barrel didn't taste that much different to me.  Entry level bottles 10EUR. Their high end 20EUR. 

As part of the (25 euros for 2) tasting, they also provide quite a nice assortment of cheese, meat, vegetables, and bread. Don't be shy to eat it. It's covered by the fee.

Agricola Dell'Arneo -

After trying, unsuccessfully to have a taste at Coti Zecca, where everybody in the shop was too busy to have a tasting with us, we ended up in another small family winery, Agricola Dell'Arneo. Once again, very welcoming and very nice.

Here they forgot to charge us anything for the tasting and when I reminded them they round up 1.5 eur "for the tasting".

The average bottle here was 5EUR. Once again, great white, great rose, and as nice Primitivo and Negro Amaro as in Annibal. But the wine price was 1/2 the price of Annibal for the wine. Their cheapest bottle was 4EUR and their most expensive was 5EUR. For the same quality, I will take 1/2 price :)

Really little family-owned, and didn't speak English, but really nice. 

Apollonio

And after trying a few more wineries that either didn't exist (despite Google's information) we finally got to one we have earmarked (based on previous tastings) as a must-try!

We didn't have an appointment, again. However, we were lucky to arrive as another tour was finishing and it was great. We got a really nice quick tasting. And as expected worth every km we did to get there. And the wine is up to our expectations.

One of the oldest wineries around. One of the most celebrated. And one with the best wines.

Got a case. And honestly, they were all better than each other. The most expensive 30EUR was from 2012. Their regular Apollonio brand ones are 20EUR (2021 vintage I think).

They also have other brands, cheaper, which we didn't taste. 

Professional. Straight to the point. Even helped us with packing boxes for the plane. All you would expect from a world-famous winery. And their wines also show the quality of their care. 

We can't wait to drink all of this one and order more from them with the first opportunity.