This wine has a deep ruby red colour with violet reflections. On the nose, it has intense red berry fruit perfumes. Full-bodied with firm tannins, it is well balanced with lots of ripe fruit flavours.

This is Farnese’s venture in Puglia (they are also responsible for Gran Sasso, Zabù, Vesevo, Tufarello and others). The wines are made at two wineries in the province of Taranto on the western flank of Salento. The style of the wines - fresh whites, soft and generous reds - will be familiar to those who buy their other wines, as winemaker Filippo Baccalaro is the driving force behind this label. Filippo, a native of Piemonte, has been working in Puglia for almost two decades. He was attracted by the rich, ripe flavours of the fruit, and has the potential to capture these flavours with minimal use of technology and a lot of know-how.

The vineyards are mostly situated in the communes of Manduria and Sava and are owned by growers with whom Filippo has been working for many years. Production is lower than its potential, which ensures the best quality grapes are selected. The red soils are calcareous clay and rich in iron, minerals and nutrients. 80% of the grapes come from old bush vines and the rest from trained vines that are at least 20 years old.

Spring was colder than normal, which delayed bud break and flowering. May and June then saw above-average rainfall, and the mistral and the north wind persisted for more than 30 days, which guaranteed a harvest of extraordinary quality but with a 20% less harvest.

The grapes were destemmed and then gently pressed and cooled to 10ºC for a maceration period of 8-10 days with regular pumping over. Yeasts were added to start fermentation, which took place under temperature-controlled conditions of up to 20ºC. The wine was then transferred to stainless-steel tanks where malolactic fermentation was carried out.