Winery of the Month
Viticulture in Puglia is history and at the same time innovation. Cultivation of wines started thousands of years ago, at the time of “Magna Grecia” (greater Greece), to which the Greek origins of many names of Apulian grape varieties attests. Tradition continues through the presence of native varieties such as Negroamaro, Aglianico and Primitivo, both true expressions of a strong and extra-ordinary vital territory.
The production of high quality wines is related to recent steps towards innovation and creativity: substantial changes have been obtained through the use of modern viticulture techniques and the introduction of non native grape varieties (i.e. Chardonnay and Cabernet) that express themselves in this “terroir” in a completely unique way.
TORMARESCA is the expression of the above two souls. Character, personality and top quality are the characteristics that Puglia transmits to the native grape varieties. For this reason the Antinori family gave birth to Tormaresca in 1998 when they started investing in Puglia, considering it one of the most promising regions in Italy for the production of high quality wines with a strong territorial identity.
Tormaresca owns two properties located within the best areas for high quality production: one in the Castel del Monte DOC region and the other in the Salento DOC region.
Our estate “Bocca di Lupo” rises in the Castel Del Monte D.O.C. area, at 250 mt a.s.l.
The proximity of volcano Vulture, the climate, characterized by a good temperature range, and the soil composition have a very strong influence on the vineyards that are mainly cultivated with Aglianico, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Fiano Pugliese, Moscato di Trani and Nero di Troia.
Crossing the, approximately, 130 vine yarded hectares, we approach the farm that reminds us of the typical “masserie” of the Murgia with its structure and brilliant white tufaceous walls. Together with the TRATTURI and the dry-stone walls, these ancient residences are the few testimonies of man’s presence that prop the surrounding area where, more than in any other place, nature has not been bent to urbanization.
In the barrel room of the fortified “masseria”, surmounted by a cross vault and built with the same white stone, we can store 1000 oak barriques. But what hits the eye is the breathtaking panorama that the visitor can admire from the huge arched windows of the second floor: on a hill opposite Bocca di Lupo, you can admire the village of Minervino Murge that reflects the sun rays with a thousand facets thanks to the white stone which its houses are made of and if the air is clear enough, one can catch a glimpse of the volcano Vulture as if watching over the territory.
Masseria Maime stands in one of the most beautiful areas of Salento.
Our estate covers 500 hectares and, apart from the 250 hectares cultivated with vineyards and the 85 hectares destined to olive yards, it runs along the Adriatic coast, creating a unique landscape of vineyards that are born in woods and pine forests and continue until the eye can reach, merging with the sea.
The principal varieties that are cultivated are Negroamaro, Primitivo, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
This estate is an example of innovation and tradition: in fact, both ancient typical training systems, like the “alberello”, a technique that mainly aims at reducing water consumption, and new ones, like the head-training system, coexist reaching a perfect technical and economic compromise that achieves top quality wines.
Through olive yards and at the end of a tree-lined country road, we catch a glimpse of a 17th century country-house; the “masseria” develops around a central atrium where the noble family of the Capeces used to store wheat and vinify their wines. Just outside the farm’s entrance, there is a small noble chapel named after “St. Pasquale a Maime” and built in the same century.
Tormaresca is actually engaged in the last phases of the realization of a new productive plant, characterized by modern lines that reinterpret in a contemporary key the local flora of the Salento region such as the sinuous curves of the agave leaves and the strong presence of the olive trees.
