In the heart of Salice Salentino, Castello Monaci stands out. The Castle and the Cellar are surrounded by about 3,000 olive trees and 150 hectares of vineyards which represent one of the most significant models of the innovative Salento viticulture. The vineyards are trained with spurred cordon. Below a first clayey layer of about 1 meter the roots meet a wide band of tuff, a typical porous and friable white stone. In periods of great drought it acts as a water resource for the vine, giving the wines flavor and minerality.
Pilùna is a monovarietal of Primitivo. We are a few kilometers outside the primitivo DOC of Manduria, therefore Pilùna falls within the disciplinary of the IGT Salento. The primitive name derives from "first native" as it is the first red berried variety to be ready for harvest. The name Pilùna...
Artas, Messapian prince who, in 413 BC in the name of an ancient treaty of friendship between Messapia and Athens, provided 150 javelin throwers to support the Athenian expedition to Sicily, in the so-called Peloponnesian war between Sparta and Athens.