Puglia in Rosé and Primitivo

I first met Caterina Baldini, Co-founder and project manager of Associazione Puglia in Rosé and Lucia Lettis, Co-founder of Associazione Puglia in Rose’ and Technical Director, at a Puglia in Rosé Master Class at the Leopard at Des Artistes in Manhattan a few months ago. Lucia spoke about the association and Caterina spoke about the region of Puglia. This Monday they invited me to a Zoom tasting of 6 wines, four were rosato and two were primitivo.  Caterina was the very well-informed host and, since I was the only guest, we were able to have a one-on-one conversation about Puglia.

Caterina said the producers’ association purpose is to promote the Apulian Rose’ Wine Brand in the USA and the world. Apulia is the largest producer of rosé wine in Italy with a 44% share. She said that they would like the producers to put Rosato on the label so the wine will be recognized as Italian, but some producer still use Rosé. Apulia Rosato comes in made shades from light pink to light red.

The Rosato

Puglia Rosato IGP “Maglida” 2020 Cantine Barsento made from Malvasia and Negroamaro. The soil is clay and limestone.There is are selection of the grapes at harvest. Fermentation takes place at a low temperature in stainless steel tanks.  Maceration on the skins for 10 hours and then the skins are soft pressed. The wine is aged in steel for 3 months and in bottle for 1 month before release. The wine has hints of strawberries, raspberries and a hint of cherry.

Puglia Rosato IGP Selva della  Rocca 2020 Cantine Le Grotte made from 100% Nero di Troia from Apricena and Gargano. The vineyards are at 70/90 meters. Harvest takes place the last week of September. The wine is in contact with the skins for 5/6 hours at a controlled temperature. The wine remains in stainless steel for 5 months and is bottled in March following the harvest. The wine is coral in color.  It has hints of red and black fruit with a touch of blackberry and a hint of spice.

Puglia Rosé IGP “Forme” 2021 Cantine Massimo Leone. Made from 100% Nero di Troia. The soil is Karstic and clayey. Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature and skin contact is for 8 hours. Pink in color with coral reflections with hints of black fruit, red roses and a touch of spice. Caterina  said the “scratches” on the label are that of a lion (Leone) because of the name of the winery.

Rosato IGP “Cattedrale”  2020  Società Agricola D’ Alessandro  made from 100% Sangiovese. The soil is limestone. The wine is in contact with the skins for 6/8 hours followed by a soft pressing of the skins. Temperature controlled fermentation is in stainless steel tanks. Aging is in stainless steel for 4 months and then in bottle before release.  Caterina said the producer had in mind young people when he made this wine because it is an easy drinking wine with a deep pink color, fruity aromatic aromas with hints of strawberries and raspberries.  She also said the picture on the label represents the window of the  cathedrals of Puglia. They use a darker bottle to protect the color of the wine.

All of the Rosato wines are well under $20 a bottle

The Primitivo

Puglia Primitivo IGP “Soffio”  2019 Cantine D’Alessandro made from 100% Primitivo. The soil is clayey limestone. There is a preselection of grapes. Temperature controlled fermentation is in steel with the must and 20 days of skin contact. The wine remains in steel for 6 months and in bottle for 6 months before release. The wine has hints of blackberry, blueberry and prune. $20

Puglia Primitivo IGP  Selva della Rocca  2019 Cantine Le Grotte made from 100% Primitivo. The vineyards are located at the foot of the Gargano and the soil is calcareous rich in minerals. The exposure is southwest. Manual harvest. Vinification is in temperature controlled steel tanks. Maceration lasts for 15 days. Aging is in new French barriques for 12 months and then 3 months in bottle before release. Ruby red in color with violet reflections. It has hints of small red berry fruit, prune and a note of spice. $15

Puglia comes to Kesté

A number of years ago Michele and I were on a press trip to Puglia and we visited Cantina Due Palme. Recently I received  and invitation for an event called  “Wines of Excellence Made in Puglia: Cantine Due Palma at Keste Wall Street.”

It is always a pleasure to go to Keste and I wanted to catch up on the wines of Due Palme.

Roberto Caporuscio, Pizzaiolo/Owner of Keste, was the host for the evening.

We started with  a focaccia typical of Puglia, made by Roberto. The flour is a mix of Super  Nuvola “0” flour from Caputo, semolina and potato.  The topping is tomatoes and olives.

There was Buratta, a cow’s milk cheese, which originated in Puglia that has an outer shell of mozzarella and inside a mix of shredded mozzarella and cream called stracciatella. It is made fresh everyday at Keste.

Olives from Puglia-Cerignola

Roberto with his former students

Two former students of Roberto, Penelope and Lucie, made the pizza. They have since opened a pizzeria in Quebec City called Nina Pizza Napolitaine.  Roberto said they were his best students and after I tasted the pizza I could not agree more, it was that good.

I asked Robert what flour he uses for his pizza.  He said he uses a mix of 50% Tipo 1 and 50% Super Nuvola Tipo 0 from Caputo.

The Pizza

Pizza with  a mix of homemade straciatella, and smoked and regular mozzarella infused with fresh mint and limoncello, and topped with fresh figs – fantastic.

Pizza with stracciatella cheese, broccoli rape and sausages

Pizza with ricotta and onions sauteed with mixed berries

Vegetarian pizza

Figs marinated in red wine

Cantina Due Palme is a Social Cooperative with its main headquarters located in Cellino San Marco, Puglia.  It was established in 1989 but its roots go back to 1943. In  the beginning there were only 15 members and today there are 1,000 and they have merged with 4 other large wineries with a total capacity 10,000 HL of wine.

Salice Salentino DOP Riserva “Selvarossa” made from Negroamaro and Malvasia Nero. The soil is baked red clay and the training system is alberello. The grapes are hand harvested and some of the grapes are dried in the cellars to concentrate the sugars and flavors and to enrich the structure. The wine is aged for 9 months in French oak barriques and then in bottle until it is ready to be released. The wine has hints of cherry jam, dates and vanilla with a note of toasty oak and a touch of spice.

Primitivo Di Manduria DOP “Sangatano” made from 100% Primitivo Di Manduria. The soil is red in color because of iron oxides with a rocky limestone substratum. The wine is aged for 6 months in American oak barriques followed by maturation in the bottle for a period of time. This is a wine with black fruit aromas and flavors with hints of vanilla and chocolate.

Rosso Salento IGP “1943 The Presidents Wine” made from Primitivo and Aglianico from vineyards planted in 1968. The grapes are hand harvested and some of the grapes are dried (appassimento) in the cellars which are kept humidity free to avoid spoilage. The wine is aged for 9 months in new barrels and for a period in bottle before release. This is an intense and complex wine with hints of coffee, ripe cherry, plum and spicy notes of vanilla. It is called The Presidents Wine because it produced from the old vineyards planted by Angelo Marci, founder and president of the company, in 1968 using the alberello vine training method.

From Puglia: The Wines of Azienda Vinicola Cantele

Paolo Cantele is the brand manger for the Cantele Winery in Puglia. We have met several times in the past, most recently at a tasting organized by Radici del Sud 2016 in Puglia where I tasted his wines again. I liked them and decided it was time to write about them.

Paolo Cantele

Paolo said the winery was founded in 1979 by Gianni Cantele and his sons Augusto and Domenico. The Cantele family now owns 50 acres of vineyards and manages/rents an additional 120 acres in the township of Guagnano in southern Puglia. Paolo said it is a family affair, his older brother, Gianni, is the winemaker and the other family members take part in running the winery.

The Wines

Chardonnay IGT Salento, the production area is Guagnano (LE) and Monternesola (TA) 100% Chardonnay.The training system is guyot and there are 5,000 plants per hectare. Harvest is the first ten days of August.

The grapes are destemmed, crushed and gently pressed. The must is cooled to 10C in order to allow for natural fining. Alcoholic fermentation is carried out in stainless steel vats at 15C. Paolo said the wine should be drunk young. It has fruity citrus flavors and aromas with a hint of juniper.

“Amativo” IGT Salento, Production area is Guagnano (LE) ,Sava (TA) and San Pietro Vernotico (BR) made from 60% Primitivo and 40% Negroamaro. The vines are head- trained (alberello) and there are 5,000 plants per hectare. Primitivo is harvested in early September and the Negoramaro in late September. After being destemmed and crushed, the must is macerated with skin contact for 12/15 days during which délestage is employed on a daily basis. Fermentation is temperature controlled. After malolactic fermentation is completed, the wine is aged in barriques for about 12 months. Paolo said the wine can age for 4 to 6 years. The wine has nice fruit hints of dried figs, spice and a touch of vanilla.

Negroamaro Rosato IGT Salento , production area Guagnano (LE) 100% Negroamaro. The training system is spur-pruned cordon and there are 5,000 vines per hectare. Harvest takes place the second half of September. Paolo said the grapes are macerated for 12 to 24 hours in order to extract the correct color from the skins and the classic aromatic notes of Negroamaro. The free-run must is fermented at 14/15C in stainless-steel vats where it remains until alcoholic fermentation is completed. The wine is aged in stainless steel until it is bottled. This is a well-balanced fresh wine with hints of strawberry and cherry. Paolo said the wine should be consumed upon release or with in a year or two.

Salice Salentino Riserva DOC, production area Guagnano (LE). 100% Negroamaro. The vines are pruned-spur condon trained and there are 4,500 vines per hectare. Harvest takes place at the end of September. After being destemmed and crushed, the must is macerated with skin contact for about 10 days. Fermentation is carried out at 25/26C. Once malolactic fermentation is completed, the wine is aged 1 year in 2-year-old barriques and about 6 months in bottle before release. The wine has hints of candied fruit, spice, and tea and is well balanced. Paolo said the wine is ready to drink but will continue to evolve for 3 to 4 years.

Primitivo IGT Salento Production area: Sava (TA), Torricella (TA) and San Pierto Vernotico (BR) 100% Primitivo. Vines are head trained (alberello) and there are 4,500 plants per hectare. Harvest is in early September. After being destemmed and crushed, the must macerates with skin contact for 6/7 days. Fermentation is carried out at 25/26C. The wine is then aged for about 6 months in barriques. The wine is ready to drink but will continue to evolve for 3 /4 years. The wine has hints of sour cherry and prune with spicy notes.