Pedoclimatic description: climate and territory.

Since the dim and distant past, vines have seen the light of the day in this generous territory, following the natural mechanism that brings living beings into their ideal habitat. Salento has always been a mosaic very rich in life and colours, made of dolmen and baroque monuments , wonderful coasts and an ocean of olive trees and vineyards. In this unique scenery the search for quality depends, for Feudi di San Marzano , on the deep knowledge of the exceptional heritage of autochthonous grapes, and of their capacity to adapt to the pedological and climatic features of this area of production.

From the pedoclimatic point of view, what links the territory of Salento to the art of vine-growing is a natural union of ancient origins.

Its red, clayey and calcareous earth lying on some very superficial strata of tuffaceous rock, and its scarce availability of water oblige vines to look for their nourishment by sinking their roots into the earth and penetrating between the rocks for several metres. This movement and this strong interaction justify the aromatic richness and the good structure of our wines.

In particular the area of production where our vineyards are planted is basically characterized by two main kinds of soil:

•  The red soil which is typical of the region of Salento, and is characterized by a strong release of iron oxides from the calcareous substratum (that justifies the typical reddish hue), and by some very thin layers of soil superimposed on the limestone with sporadic outcrop of limestone. In this kind of soil our best vineyards are grown and given the shape of little trees and originate some excellent wines like the SESSANTANNI ®.

•  The soils of marine terrace deposits, characterized by a sandy or pebbly texture. In these areas behind the Ionian coast, benefiting from the good influence of the sea breeze, sweet-smelling vineyards are grown like those originating the LIATICO ®.

From the climatic point of view, our region obviously benefits from the typical “Mediterranean climate” with some variations from the coast to the hinterland.

It is a very hot region, with average temperature of about 17,5° and annual rainfall below 500 mm with occasional but intense precipitations (downpour and storms). A little more than half of these precipitations occur in the period covering from March to September, the period coinciding with the vegetative cycle of vines. Winds have a high average intensity and a uniform distribution. Their main directions are northwards and southwards , with scirocco (south wind) and tramontana (north wind).