Podere ai Contadini — Vallegna di Ostuni, deep in the Itria Valley in Puglia, between Cisternino and Ostuni, and one of the tiniest, most heartfelt little projects you'll come across. A family affair, Anna Rosa Trinchera and her husband Nino, with son-in-law Walter Iannini joining them in 2021, right in the thick of the pandemic, to keep doing what the family's done for generations: farming gently, with as little environmental fuss as possible.
And we're talking small. Four-tenths of a hectare of vines, one hectare of olives, a modest little cellar all on the same property. The vineyard was planted in 1977, so those are old vines doing the quiet work, Malvasia Nera, Negroamaro, Verdeca, Barbera, plus the real heart of the project, the rare local varieties most people have never heard of: Impigno, Ottavianello, Francavidda. Francavidda in particular is the main game here, an almost forgotten white grape of this corner of Puglia.
Everything's by hand, harvest included. In the cellar, spontaneous ferments, no oenological products, just a whisper of sulphur if any, then decanting and bottling by hand. Nothing clever, nothing flashy. Grapes, oil and other farm products all made as an expression of belonging to one specific place, recovering knowledge that was nearly lost.
Proper small-scale Puglian soul. Old vines, old varieties, one family and a very honest way of doing things.
Podere ai Contadini — Vallegna di Ostuni, deep in the Itria Valley in Puglia, between Cisternino and Ostuni, and one of the tiniest, most heartfelt little projects you'll come across. A family affair, Anna Rosa Trinchera and her husband Nino, with son-in-law Walter Iannini joining them in 2021, right in the thick of the pandemic, to keep doing what the family's done for generations: farming gently, with as little environmental fuss as possible.
And we're talking small. Four-tenths of a hectare of vines, one hectare of olives, a modest little cellar all on the same property. The vineyard was planted in 1977, so those are old vines doing the quiet work, Malvasia Nera, Negroamaro, Verdeca, Barbera, plus the real heart of the project, the rare local varieties most people have never heard of: Impigno, Ottavianello, Francavidda. Francavidda in particular is the main game here, an almost forgotten white grape of this corner of Puglia.
Everything's by hand, harvest included. In the cellar, spontaneous ferments, no oenological products, just a whisper of sulphur if any, then decanting and bottling by hand. Nothing clever, nothing flashy. Grapes, oil and other farm products all made as an expression of belonging to one specific place, recovering knowledge that was nearly lost.
Proper small-scale Puglian soul. Old vines, old varieties, one family and a very honest way of doing things.
