In Salento. A big white canvas. White, like its tiny and assorted villages spread out over vast areas, the heel of the boot, in the southeast of Puglia between the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, Salento is a region which is both mild and full of energy.
Castello Monaci comes from here. In places which bear the mark of history, from their emergence – in the 5th century B.C. with the Messapi, breeders of the horses of Illyria – to the conquests of the Greeks, Byzantines, Romans and Turks. Up until today, with the light of the sun always the most important element involved. As with the Baroque, the lifestyle too is splendidly varied, new and old together, amazing like the sun.
Castello Monaci. Where white encounters the colours of the people. Rugged and elegant, but also lively and forceful, the people of Castello Monaci have the character of Lecce, nerve centre of Salento. Here there is a religion, art, music, trends, fashions in a seventeenth century setting rich with statues sculpted in soft, Ivory-coloured stone.
The contours of Castello Monaci blend into the lines of its native land. Salento lies between two seas, a territory of distinctive shapes and myriad forms representing nature. Fanning out around the castle and cellar, Castello Monaci’s 150 hectares of vineyards are planted mainly to indigenous varieties Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera. The estate is at the forefront of sophisticated innovation and technology and has a barrique cellar carved out of the solid rock that provides natural temperature insulation. It house over 1,000 barriques of French oak; shadows and silhouettes sculpted from light.
Red
"Liante" Salice Salentino DOC 2012 13% ABV
80% Negroamaro and 20% Malvasia Nera grapes, deep ruby-red colour; intense and complex bouquet with hints of wild cherry conserve, dried plums, chocolate and vanilla; powerful, warm and balanced flavour with an elegant after taste of very ripe fruit and spices, with a pleasant balsamic finish and slightly bitter after taste of green almonds.
£11.45
"Piluna" Primitivo Salento IGT 2012 14% ABV
100% Primitivo grapes, part of which are matured in French barriques for 6 months while the rest mature in stainless steel tank. Dark crimson-red colour; full bouquet of ripe red fruits and cherry conserve, with notes of pepper and vanilla and hints of Mediterranean scrub; robust, concentrated, soft but very firm flavour with an elegant, lingering after taste of small black fruits conserve and liquorice.
£11.45
White
"Acante" Fiano Salento IGT 2013 12.5% ABV
100% Fiano grapes, A tenuous straw yellow colour; an ample aroma of fruit (pear and pineapple) and honey; a fresh, lively and balanced flavour with notes of fresh fruit and an attractive finale of toasted hazelnut.
£11.70