Borgo dei Trulli Saracena Primitivo Salento IGP

Description

Borgo dei Trulli Saracena Primitivo is a red wine from the Salento wine-growing region of Puglia, the southernmost region of  Puglia in the heel of Italy. It is bottled as a Salento Indicazione Geografica Protetta.

Masseria Borgo dei Trulli, to give it its full name, is a new wine venture made by Orion Wines, a company created to bring together interesting wines from small growers and wineries from all over Italy. The company was created by Luca Pomaro and winemaker Alessandro Michelon with the premise of producing wines from indigenous grapes that express the typicity of the particular region where they are grown. The Masseria Borgo dei Trulli estate is located in the heart of Salento and is owned and managed by Orion wines with Alessandro Michelon as head winemaker ably assisted by his wife Elena. Around 80% of wine produced at the estate is red wine produced from Negroamaro and Primitivo with some white wine, including Vermentino.

The Primitivo grapes for Borgo dei Trulli Saracena are sourced from only the best, low-yeilding vineyard sites in the Commune of Maruggio, in an area called “Saracena”, in the Province of Taranto. The grapes are trained in using the Alberello Pugliese system – which means the plants are densely planted (5,500 plants per hectare) and are left to develop into bush vines (Alberello translates as little trees) with no support. The vines have an average age of 60 years old.

The grapes are harvested in mid to late September into 5kg wooden crates which are then placed in well ventilated drying lofts known as “fruttaio”. The grapes are left to dry for around 10 days and lose approximately 40% of their weight depending on the vintage and weather conditions. This process increases concentration and aromas. The grapes are destemmed, but not crushed, and are fermented in stainless steel for 8-10 days. Frequent remontage and delestage are carried out during the fermentation in order to achieve soft extraction of aromas and gentle tannins. After racking, malolactic fermentation is induced. Following malolactic fermentation the wine is racked and 100% is placed in first and second passage French oak barriques for 10 months. Following bottling the wine is left to cellar age for a further 4 months before release.

Masseria Borgo dei Trulli is named after the traditional Apulian dry stone huts with a conical roof. These are known as a “trullo” or “trulli” in the plural and feature in the brand logo.