2024-09-26 14:31:38
“It may be a few kilometers away, but you know exactly where it is: in the south of Italy, in Salento,” says Giovanni Callo in the main hall of his family’s winery. There are many boxes lying around, here and there, but there is still enough empty space for this phrase to echo through the room in a Nordic accent that is not typical for the area.
So this story begins less than 20 kilometers from my hometown of Nardò. Andrea Colitta, a young sommelier from MoSto diVino wine shop, a rising local star in his field and owner of a dangerous Kawasaki Ninja, sent me to the small town of Tuglie. I met him in the market square of Nardò, in one of the many wine bars that opened in the city’s summer program. As usual, the bottles go Rose, as we call the rosé wine here, quickly surpasses all estimates as we draw bold and mineral Semper Sognare, a blend of Primitivo and Negroamaro grapes.
To understand rosé, Andrea told me, you need to look closely at these two grapes. There are two regional differences that can be found, among other things, in the two winemakers in different cities in the region. So on one of those days when the Italian summer is still bright but a little cold, I set up and took Alessandro – childhood friend, process manager in Milan and wine lover – with me.
A timeless classic in this part of Puglia
At Mamma Elvira, my favorite winery in Lecce, we already learned over a glass of Lacrima from Ugento what makes rosé such a timeless classic in this part of Puglia: rosé wines can be found in all shades of red, orange, cherry, coral and peach and jump out pink. They are good for pairing with many foods and can be drunk at different temperatures. Salento is devilishly hot in the summer and full of humidity in the winter that wears your bones. The country produces red wines full of richness and character, where you can taste the difference between the land and the coast, north and south. So how can a red wine made like a white wine not be good?
The less time I spent in my area, the more I rediscovered the culture of drinking rosé, always with an open eye to different producers and the awareness that this is the wine for every occasion. In Salento everyone can enjoy rosé all year round. On a beach day, when the bottle slowly begins to float in a bucket full of sparkling ice – Absolutely! Perfect for New Year’s dinner, when fish and meat dishes provide something for every palate!
So we went to Tuglie, one of the two addresses that Andrea recommended. We went to the Michele Calò & Figli winery. Giovanni is one of the two Figli, Michele’s sons, who carry on their father’s legacy and devote great attention to the production of rosé. The occasional northern Italian accent can be confusing at first, but he quickly explains: “From another place like Tuglie, a town of 5,000 inhabitants, many people have moved north mainly to sell wine . If you go from Milan to Como or to Varese, you will find someone from Tuglie in almost every town. My brother and I were born in Arluno, near Milan. Our parents brought us up selling a lot of wine. And then we moved to another city to expand the network and market while we grow,” said Giovanni Callo.
“Make sure your rosé tastes good”
However, Michele Callo, Giovanni’s father, had already decided to produce and sell quality wine in the 1960s. Gradually, the wine was replaced by bottled wine – until the winery in Tuglie could reach capacity of 10,000 hectoliters; Today, however, only a quarter of this amount is produced annually in concrete barrels. “We are also one of the few who still drink rosé ‘a lacrima’ (translated ‘with tears’), as they used to,” says Caló, after that explains the difference in the rules. “Ninety percent of rosé is made by soft pressing: the grapes are crushed, placed in the press, then pressing begins. In this way you get about sixty percent of the harvest. If we make it ‘lacrima’ instead, the force of gravity, the weight of one grape on top of another, essentially creates the pressure itself,” explains Giovanni.
There are different ways to make rosé. One of them said: “Imagine that the alcoholic drinks came here and put them in a big bottle and waited until dawn. This stage is called ‘per alzata di cappello’ (‘by removing the pomace cap’) because the pomace cap (the skin of the grapes) comes off after a number of hours due to maceration. If it is clear, you will see the grapes floating on the juice. This is where we must create,” explains Giovanni. “But we remove the clear juice at the bottom by opening a valve into a small vat. When the juice flows out and the skins of the grapes sink, the valve stops shining.
Michele Calò & Figli make perhaps two of the most famous rosato brands – Mjère and Cerasa – which I often see on many tables in places like the special fish restaurant Taverna del Porto in Tricase. Both are made from 100 percent Negroamaro grapes from the heart of Salento, with Cerasa having 20 percent transferred to barrels and aged on wood. The bright red color is almost reminiscent of unripe cherries, coral and drops of freshly shed blood.
Mjère and Cerasa have also enjoyed the lull in popularity that Rosé has experienced in the past five to seven years. “Trends can be a factor. But it also goes back to understanding the reasons behind the regional tradition in which rosé wine production is rooted,” explains Giovanni. “The product is destructive, buried deep in the soil of this country. If you dig here, you will come across streams of rosé all over Salento – if I may be a metaphor. It is woven into the lives of the people here. “
“My dad always said, ‘Make sure your rosé tastes full.’ That’s his legacy. So his plan is to treat wine like food.” Giovanni’s Rosé is an almost edible wine. It lingers in your mouth, not for a few minutes like the cheaper brands.
Rosé “Anima Rosa” from Vigne MonacheFederico PlanteraThe tour continues in Primitivo
In the northern part of Salento, where the vineyards extend to the land rather than to the Ionian Sea, is one of the areas of Primitivo – and them The region for Primitivo becomes Manduria. Here, where most of this grape is ripened on nine hectares, is the second address we are advised to visit. Vigne Monache, run by Salvatore Nigro and his wife Rita with their two daughters.
The land reflects the man who worked on it. “Our land is half gravel and half clay. There are crushed stones and we planted the vines. We dug a well because we had to, we might have to dig emergency water. But we can say that the vineyards are planted directly in the rock, as they were 70 years ago on the coast,” explained Salvatore.
And it is a bit like your country. At the beginning of our conversation, he was humble but polite, and with each passing minute he became more talkative and knowledgeable. He is my friend Alessandro’s favorite person – and it becomes even better when his wife Rita joins him and talks to us.
Light pink color, almost jump out, with some orange
“We’ve been making wine for two generations, but Vigne Monache was created recently, in 2010. And basically we’ve been making our rosé since it was founded in 2011.” Which is very different from the Negroamaro grapes we find a few kilometers to the south in Tuglie.
First and foremost, Anima Rosa – Vigne Monache’s rosé – is made entirely from Primitivo grapes. But above all it is a rosé from Primitivo with the appearance of a Provencal wine: an almost pink color, almost washed out, with some orange shades. We are not used to that at all from rosé further south in Salento. But it was well received, the label was successful both at home and abroad (Belgium, Switzerland). And it has to do with personal taste.
Black color: Mjere from SalentoFederico Plantera“It is our intention to do it this way; we like this lighter color. I often see rosé wines with a very strong red color, almost like a light red color. For us: If it’s rosé, it’s pink. If it’s red wine, it’s red. There is nothing more to say,” Salvatore began thoughtfully.
Production runs on a different method than that found in Tuglie. “Basically, Rosé is a wine made from red wine. So he drank red wine that had been made like white wine. It works like this: The grapes are harvested, washed and pressed. The contact between the pulp and the must with the skin only lasts about 80 to 90 minutes – this is the time the machines need to press the grapes. The result is a clean wine without colors that go into the tank. So we did the opposite of the ‘Alzata di Cappello’ method,” explained Salvatore.
“We don’t tap from below. What happens if the peels are removed and the juice is poured into a silo at 7° Celsius? Through explanation, all complex yeasts are solved and there are better ones. The must clears and ferments the body It does not ferment with the skin, otherwise it will get on the skin, right? The longer they stay in contact, the more color you get on. For example, white and sparkling wines are produced. This is also the basis of our rosé. “
In the region’s rosé wines you can feel “the carob tree, the Mediterranean forest,” says Salvatore. “We don’t find the plants in the red Primitivo, but in the rosé. Also notes of cherries and ripe fruits. If you turn to Primitivo as a natural wine, you can even notice notes of dried figs and almonds. These are the plants we have here in this area. “
Anima Rosa has also benefited from the recent wave of increased interest in rosé wines. Demand has increased, as has capacity. But Salvatore decided to pay attention to the traditions instead of appreciating what was already there. “At a tasting a few years ago, some producers said they had decided to make a red wine that would go with fish. Apparently someone raised their hand and asked the right question: ‘Please, please, we’ve got some red wine for fish. It’s rosé. So why the hell do we need a red wine for fish?’ Yes, why do we need it? When rosé is made well, it passes every test.”
And when he got drunk in Salento. Because while rosé like Anima Rosa is sold in countries like Belgium, Switzerland or southern Italy, rosé wines are also met with disapproval and taboos in the rest of the country. Especially in Rome and further north there was rejection, as both Alessandro and Salvatore emphasized. Why? “Ca l’italianu è capu tosta! (Because Italians are stubborn!),” Salvatore said and laughed.
Translated from English by Maria Wiesner.
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