Salento: discovering the land of Negroamaro

Negroamaro (whose name is the amalgamation of two distinct words for black - one from the local dialect, the other Greek) is the oldest and most widespread grape variety in Salento. Let this wine seduce you, as it recounts the history of this land, its culture and people. The heel of Italy, the land of the ancient Messapia, covers the entire province of Lecce and part of the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto. Surrounded by the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, Salento is a land of sun, winds and strong colours: the reds of the earth and the wine, the dark green of the Mediterranean that caresses the white sand and blue sea, the whitewashed houses, trulli and dry stone walls, the silver olive trees, and the golden fields of wheat.

Tasting Negramaro is like soaking up a distillation of these colours, in the strength and flavour of a wine that is the fruit of hard work and humility.

Just as this wine has exported its culture, by emigrating and giving flavour and harmony to other wines for more than a century, so has its native land continued to see arrivals and departures, dialogue and exchange, always culturally and naturally predisposed to hospitality.

The triumph of Lecce’s baroque

The aristocratic and cultured heart of Salento is Lecce, the capital of the Baroque, with its ochre stone buildings, the beautiful Piazza del Duomo, magnificent decorations and a buzzing arts scene. The city overlooks a large plain embraced by two seas. From the low, rocky coasteline, in places interspersed with green pine woods, the landscape extends almost endlessly in immense vistas of red earth and barren rocks, dotted with vineyards and olive groves, ancient wells, oil presses and beautiful fortified farms, once the hub of trade in the area. Many have since been transformed by their owners into tourist accommodation for visitors who want to experience Salento to the full.
 

The cradle of Negramaro

Novoli, Carmiano, Galatina, Cutrofiano and Otranto are some of the names most closely linked to Negramaro, and are perfect destinations on a journey to discover Romanesque and Renaissance architectural beauties, splendid natural scenery and ancient traditions, such as the feast of Maria Santissima del Pane, which takes place every summer in Novoli, or the tarantate in Galatina.

Do not miss the old town of Otranto, which has withstood the storms of time to preserve all its historic charm. Visitors arrive through the “Porta Terra", set in the recently restored Napoleonic ramparts. Once in the heart of town, you arrive in a triangular square, built in the second half of the 16th century. In the heart of the old town you will find the Basilica di San Pietro and, in the higher part, the cathedral and seminary. The Castello Aragonese is located near the sea, and is one of the glories of Puglia.

Between Two Seas

When talking of Salento, how can we forget the delights of its coasts and its famous seaside resorts, both on the jagged, rocky Adriatic coastline, with its marinas, small landings and innumerable grottoes, stretching between Otranto, Santa Cesaria Terme, Tricase and Santa Maria di Leuca, and the beautiful west coast, with the delightful Gallipoli, like a terrace overlooking the sea, Porto Selvaggio, Santa Caterina, Porto Cesario and its park, and the many coastal towers watching over the seas as far as the bay of Taranto.