A wine opened my mind

Have you ever had the feeling of travelling with your mind by drinking a glass of red wine?






Yesterday night, I came back in Apulia after a couple of days in Florence, where I have been at Galleria degli Uffizi contemplating Caravaggio, Piero della Fracesca, Botticelli, Tiziano, Giotto, Mantegna et cetera.

It was 11 o'clock pm, we didn't have dinner yet, so I asked Lucia "Would you fancy pasta alio, olio and peperoncino"?

"Yes, sure" she replies. I'm a lucky man, I know.

I start cooking, meantime, I open a bottle of Elce Primitivo of Poderi delle Mura, run by Vito Calia and his bride.

After having drunk the first glass, I could not refrain from sending a message to Vito "Ciao Vito, sono tornato stasera da Firenze. Ho letto la tua mail ed ho subito colto il tuo invito aprendo una delle bottiglie generosamente donatemi: il tuo vino apre la mente. Il gusto, il sapore dischiudono orizzonti inesplorati. Complimenti!"

The problem you may encounter when drinking such a wine is that you would drink the entire bottle. 

Fortunately, Lucia, my wife, calls me from the bed "come to sleep. It's late". So, it came that I drink just half bottle of this fruit juice.

Vito owns a vineyard of just three hectares in Altamura and produce a ruby red Primitivo wine and a White Elce wine (70% Malvasia).




I interviewed Vito a week ago. 







I was so curious to know the story behind this wine as it seems that Vito is the only wine maker in Altamura who has decided to promote his wine. Indeed, he's only goal is quality, quality and again quality.

He picks me up at 12.

"Hi Vito, nice to meet you" I say. 

"Ciao Antonio, please, get in" he replies.

We head straight to the Vito's vineyard, located at contrada Parisi, Altamura.

"I inherited this vineyard from my dad who died in 2003. I wine-make since I was a kid. I didn't go on holidays in summer because I had to help my dad to look after the vineyard" he says.

He continues "When I grew up, my main job was as estate agent, which I've carried out for 18 years. Then, in 2013, the crisis arrived. I blessed that crisis because finally my wife and I took the decision to became professional winemaker, focusing just on our wines."

I listen to Vito and I realise how genuine he is.

What probably strikes me more is the passion that his words emanate.

He tells me that this year he has decided to make his wine stronger (15% alcohol instead of the past 14%) by sacrificing some quantity and delaying the harvest at the end of September.





Ladybirds seem appreciating it. 






"Looking after my vineyard means also defend it from diseases such as peronospora (late blight), which may take place especially in May and June. You know, I plant a rose at the head of each row. Roses work like sentinels when peronospora occurs, because they get sick first, so I'd have the time needed to intervene" Vito adds.

"I'm for a clean agriculture" Vito declares. 

"It's seven years that I don't use anymore copper sulphate (vitriol) because I don't want metal flooding the soil" He says.

I invite you to try his wine.

It won't let you down. Guaranteed.

Welcome to Manduria, land of the Primitivo wine

I have arranged an appointment at 10 with Anna, public relator of Consorzio Produttori vini di Manduria.

I have learned the Consorzio through Alceo, a magazine of enological culture edited by the Consorzio itself.

The magazine takes its name from Alcaeus of Mytilene, Greek lyric poet who wrote drinking songs.

My girIfriend Lucia and I leave Brindisi at 8 o’clock, heading to Manduria.

My plan is to visit firstly the immense archaeological park of Manduria, of which I’ll talk about in one of the next posts.

I am excited at the idea of visiting the Consorzio, which has been founded in 1932.

The Consorzio is a team of Primitivo wine makers.

Primitivo di Manduria wine is a DOC (quality assurance label).

The Primitivo grape probably arrived In Apulia with the Illyrian people more than 25 centuries ago.

The Illyrians came from the Balkans. They colonized the entire Apulia.

Those who settled down in Salento (south of Apulia) were given the name of Messapians by the Greeks. 

Therefore, Manduria hosted one of the largest Messapian community.

We arrive at the Consorzio at 11 o’clock. 

We are enchanted by seeing how beautiful and elegant is this place.

Anna is temporarily busy with some Swedish tourists.

So, Lucia and I begin to talk with Monica, a professional and smiley sommelier.

“would you like to taste some of our wines?” she asks. 

“Yes, please” we reply pleasantly surprised.

Monica let us taste the Memoria wine. 

Then, she pours in our glasses the Amoroso (rosé). 

After that we drink a glass of Madrigale. Finally one of Sonetto.

At this stage, I have to admit that I feel merry. The Primitivo wine is between 14% and 15%. I should not forget it.

I’m happy to be here.

The magic of conviviality has infected us. 

I start talking with Antonietta, a lady who comes form Milan.

She is so fond of Apulia that she has bought a property in Ostuni. “what I love of Apulia is its colors. 

Moreover, it is plenty of olive trees around here. They grow in a soil which looks to me a carpet.”

Then, we talk with some tourists who come from Torre Annunziata (Naples).

A French lady is with them. 

She speaks an excellent Italian. 

“I have had the disgrace of marrying an Italian from Torre Annunziata” she says smiling. 

Meantime, Anna joins us. We shake hands. I congratulate her on the amazing atmosphere here.  

Therefore, Anna leads us to see the Museo della civiltà del vino Primitivo.

I have the strong feeling that Anna and her colleagues are just a great team. 

Actually, they don’t just sale wine.

Their aim is higher, much higher. Anna leads people to a journey through the culture of the Primitivo wine.

“The tragic events of 1986 have given a great lesson to our country. Nowadays, Italian wine makers fully guarantee the consumers in terms of quality. “ Says Anna.

In 1986, 26 people died because of methanol added to wine by Ciravegna, a firm located in Piedmont.

Anna is a great public relator. She would be able to make anyone at ease.

We are reaching the end of the Primitivo wine tour.

Frankly, I have had great time here. I tasted excellent wines. I met very nice people, with whom I even exchanged mobile number and e-mail address.

I strongly recommend you to come to Manduria.

You definitely won’t be disappointed. 

Salute

If you wish to see more pics, please click here

Trulli, the creation of peasant civilization

Lucia and I have hosted in Brindisi Paola and Manuela, two friends of us, who come from Milan.

Paola has never been in Alberobello. So, she has never seen Trulli.

We leave Brindisi after lunch, heading to Valle d’Itria, where Alberobello is located.

Literally, Alberobello is compounded by two words: Albero (tree), bello (beautiful).

Now, let me try to explain you why and when Trulli have been created.

The Acquaviva family, Counts of Conversano, incentivized peasants family to populate a land which will then be called Alberobello.

Therefore, Trulli begun to be built up in the second half of the 16^th century.

Trulli are a kind of construction stable and precarious at the same time.

The Counts authorized the peasants to build dry dwellings, in order to get them easily pulled down in case of royal inspection.

From this perspective, the reason of building up precarious constructions was due to the fact that the Counts of Conversano did not want to pay tax on properties, imposed by the Neapolitan Reign.

We say In Italy: contadino, scarpe grosse e cervello fino, which means that peasants do not look great, however the are very smart.

What makes Trulli even more interesting is not just the way they are built up.

On top of the roof, there are specific symbols which can be categorized as follow: Magic, Christian and Primordial.

Therefore, each category counts six symbols.

I enquiry with a local gentleman about the most favorite dishes in Alberobello.

He replies that handmade orecchiette is the favorite pasta there.

Additionally, a very popular dish is fava bean with chicory, a bitter vegetable. On top of it, two spoons of extra virgin olive oil.

 In terms of wine, the local variety includes: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Locorotondo, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Montepulciano.

Trulli of Alberobello have been declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.

If you wish to view more pics, please click here