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Once upon a time, there was an “emigrant” Wine
Here in Salento, which today produces some outstanding wines that are appreciated throughout the world, production was previously focused on a strong, robust, red wine in great demand in the markets of northern Italy and Europe. It was used to fortify and ‘bloody’ other, weaker wines produced in other regions, even regions that were already famous for the quality of their output.
On account of their suitability for blending, reinforcing weaker wines with colour and tannins, the Salento reds of that period were recognised as “blending wines” (vini da taglio).
The markets of the north had already begun to demand large quantities of them towards the end of the nineteenth century. In order to produce enough wine to fill the never-ending queue of railway wagons waiting to depart, yet more vineyards were planted in a land that was clearly well-suited to wine growing, thanks to its generous sunshine and its privileged position between two seas.
The first half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of many quasi-industrial facilities like this one, where the must, before being trasported, was left to ferment in concrete vats. For Salento, it was a revolution in terms of the architecture of wine production too, and facilities like this one sprang up all around the outskirts of agricultural towns, often close to the railway lines.
They replaced the old palmenti – the stone structures where wine had always been produced for domestic consumption.
