producers visit

<p><strong><em>This visit with Natalino Del Prete took place in November, 2013.&nbsp;</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Words by Jules Dressner, photoes by Eben Lillie.</em></strong></p> <p>Having never been to&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="836">Puglia</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> I&#39;d always visualized the landscapes to be dry and barren,&nbsp;like Mad Max minus the evil guys with dyed red mohawks shooting at you with bows from a motorcycle. And though our&nbsp;<a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/perrini/" target="_blank">Perrini</a>&nbsp;visit kind of fed into my dystopian post-punk fantasy, our stop at Natalino Del Prete&#39;s <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> threw me off completely. The last thing I was expecting was lush, green scenery, and Natalino&#39;s vines are amongst some of the most beautiful I&#39;ve had the pleasure of experiencing.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//0c/62/0c62e4f35b75422f2d856798d8815195.jpg" /></p> <p>Just kidding with that last photo. Those vines Natalino&#39;s neighbor who bombards them with <glossary title="526">herbicide</glossary> year round. Directly across the street though, you get this:</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//4b/e5/4be51f791de913faec4c28f7ee084575.jpg" /></p> <p>BOOM!!!!!!</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//1d/ab/1dabf19a53427e86cc35a2cc9a7fe9ca.jpg" /></p> <p>WOWZA!!!!!</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//3f/9a/3f9a9ded6b571c5eaedbcc4c6d9e9d6d.jpg" /></p> <p>HOLY MOLY!!!!</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//8c/ec/8ceca59ae4ada7a746f4afff6b02d26c.jpg" /></p> <p>DDDAAAAMMMMMMNNNNN!!!!</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//ca/fb/cafbcd7222fbe822fdb8c1c5d8a5e50c.jpg" /><br /> <br /> Ok, you get the idea...&nbsp;<br /> <br /> This first vineyard we visited consists of 2 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary title="828">Primitivo</glossary> planted in <glossary title="941">massale</glossary> 30 years ago by Natalino, as well as some 50+&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="712">Negroamaro</glossary><span>.</span></span></span><br /> <br /> <strong>Factoid: did you know Primitivo has very thin skins?</strong><br /> <br /> <em>&quot;When you don&#39;t use </em><glossary title="279"><em>chemicals</em></glossary><em>, it keeps the grapes tender.&quot;</em><br /> <br /> Natalino was planning to start <glossary title="834">pruning</glossary> a few weeks after our visit, followed by an annual&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="810">plowing</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The vines are trained in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">gobelet</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> which makes for low&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1129">yields</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The soils are&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="301">clay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Before checking out more vines, we did a quick stop to a field of Natalino&#39;s olive trees.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//05/cf/05cf71316cfe0f3483f89c46934e1f15.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//cd/ac/cdac2e4b1fbd3398ac395897dfd723ef.jpg" /></p> <p>A short drive then landed us in the Torre Nova vineyard.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//60/0b/600bd38c3c339b5718430ae594de5fe0.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_09//80/fd/80fdf9100790abaec864e7ad565c54c0.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//89/91/89917879e943f21b97390efb00b501f0.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//89/91/89917879e943f21b97390efb00b501f0.jpg" /></p> <p>Seriously, TOO BEAUTIFUL!<br /> <br /> This three <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary>&nbsp;<glossary title="594">lieu-dit</glossary> produces a<font color="#7b143e"><strong>&nbsp;<glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottling</glossary></strong></font>&nbsp;under the same name, and is planted in <glossary title="712">Negroamaro</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="624">Malvasia Nera</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The soils consist of <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> with rocky pebbles. Next to the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="740">older vines</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Natalino recently replanted some <glossary title="624">Malvasia Nera</glossary> in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="941">massale</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <em>&quot;Without </em><glossary title="442"><em>fertilizing</em></glossary><em> the soil, they will grow very slowly.&quot;</em><br /> <br /> The end-game is for the vines to dig their roots deeper into the ground to feed themselves from the minerals of the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="991">subsoil</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> in turn leading to a greater concentration and <glossary title="662">minerality</glossary> in the grapes. Not <glossary title="442">fertilizing</glossary> means waiting a minimum of three&nbsp;<glossary title="1109">vintages</glossary> before these <glossary title="1130">young vines</glossary> start producing.&nbsp;For Natalino it&#39;s totally worth the wait.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> We ended our visit in the <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary> to taste the 2013&#39;s.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//0d/3f/0d3f4e4fac91d94d6e4dcb097c0f9a52.jpg" /></p> <p>The <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary> used to belong to one of the area&#39;s biggest&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span> <glossary title="729">n&eacute;gociants</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and it&#39;s huge. Natalino&#39;s total production takes up about a 20th of the space.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <em>&quot;All the big </em><glossary title="729"><em>n&eacute;gociants</em></glossary><em> around me keep claiming: &quot;We have the best wine!&quot;&nbsp;And then they close.&quot;</em>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//45/94/45945fbdd4990f906af8500875f3eb28.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//d4/9d/d49d3392f7fcf65827b0efadffb50890.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//98/16/98161a11333776da8c28c2f659fa22a7.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//7a/4f/7a4f297b3e571f34917403f3594ead84.jpg" /></p> <p>Besides those beautiful old-school <glossary title="325">concrete</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1140">tanks</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a lot of wine <glossary title="441">ferments</glossary> and <glossary title="74">ages</glossary> in these underground&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1140">vats</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//e4/6d/e46ddbe4cd92ac7e1fbce39702b05d69.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//a4/44/a444f9de312522fd5a0487f41b2933fe.jpg" /></p> <p>Natalino has so much room in his <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary> that he <glossary title="185">bottles</glossary> to order. So the later on in the <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> you&#39;re drinking the wine, the longer it has <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> in <glossary title="325">concrete.</glossary><br /> <br /> The 2013&#39;s are stunning, and I know it sounds schnooky saying this, but this will be a blockbuster <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> for&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="836">Puglia</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I particularly liked the &quot;Torre Nova&quot;, a <glossary title="308">co-ferment</glossary> of the the <glossary title="712">Negroamaro</glossary> and <glossary title="624">Malvasia Nera</glossary> mentioned above.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> After tasting in the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> we went upstairs to have a banging lunch prepared by Natalino&#39;s wife Anne. It was a good chance to re-taste the 2012&#39;s, but my favorite part of the meal was having thirds of the best Eggplant Parmigiana ever. I didn&#39;t realize, but the red-sauce cooking that has become a staple of Italian-American cuisine mainly originates from the south of Italy. While I stuffed my face with more eggplant, Anne inadvertently answered something I&#39;d always wondered about but had never actually looked up: why is is called &quot;Parmigiana&quot; when the cheese used is mozzarella?&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Well, as it turns out, Eggplant Parmigiana originates from&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="420">Emilia-Romagna</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> where parmesan is from. And since everyone loves melted cheese on things, the dish was adopted by other regions, who then adapted it to their local production. Since <glossary title="836">Puglia</glossary> is the home of mozzarella, this became the go-to cheese to use, and this is the version that made it stateside.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>Louis/Dressner Blog: You don&#39;t only learn things about wine, but also the origins of delicious dishes&trade;</strong><br /> <br /> At the end of the meal, Anne busted out these <glossary title="688">Moscato</glossary> grapes infused in really, really strong booze.&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_12//39/b1/39b193c32a726f1e31e193817c94d95d.jpg" /><br /> <br /> I had one and was semi-wasted for a few hours. Thankfully, it wasn&#39;t my turn to drive.</p>

harvest report

<p><em><strong>November 13th, 2021.</strong></em></p> <p>This <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> was the best in the last twenty years. We had a lot of grapes, all healthy. The ripening was perfect, the <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermentations</glossary> went well. We&nbsp;have twice the quantity than normal and we have a new <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuv&eacute;e</glossary> of which I send a photo.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> lasted for 32 days considering only the picking time. We started with the <glossary term="Primitivo/Zinfandel" title="828">Primitivo</glossary> on the 2nd of Sepetmeber and ended on the 5th of October with the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Malvasia Nera" title="624">Malvasia Nera</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">Vinification</glossary> work ended a month ago. There was a bit of light rain in September but it had no effect on the quality.&nbsp;</p> <p>In the pictures you can see the white grapes, that&rsquo;s <glossary term="Malvasia" title="623">Malvasia</glossary> of Brindisi. It&rsquo;s the first <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> of the vines we planted in 2018, the year I came to the US. The wine from this white grape is a cloudy orange even though it was only four&nbsp;days of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">skin contact</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> It&rsquo;s a savory wine, light and we&rsquo;ll release shortly.&nbsp;</p> <p>And then we have the <glossary term="Sussumaniello" title="998">Susamaniello</glossary> planted in 2019. It produced huge <glossary term="Cluster/Bunch" title="1138">bunches</glossary> as is its nature and the wine is very <glossary term="Aromatic" title="120">aromatic</glossary> and at the same time with a lovely drinkability and lift. The <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosato</glossary> of <glossary term="Negroamaro" title="712">Negroamaro</glossary> is also great, we did only did six&nbsp;hours of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/4e/9e/4e9e89cf75bc85495965b23ee63f9f3a.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/ba/3c/ba3cbc7374cb2337c393610f1081d351.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/f2/2b/f22b8fd866cfa509c65fddce76fb2e45.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/98/f8/98f846f1a6c7c1c69fbca0d22e289845.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/4f/0e/4f0eaa6ab83a6364e4136b9a728b5028.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/55/4b/554b46256c5517d01ad1ea9afd64b1b8.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/4f/0e/4f0eaa6ab83a6364e4136b9a728b5028.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/f9/18/f9182485f6ad92779705a3cb58728dc2.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/fc/40/fc4081f60a75a08516852ff055c3761b.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/5b/70/5b70a4eae4ed54b5cbbd5d35892ab882.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/5e/6c/5e6c8446bc75454d9909232fd2844033.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/b0/27/b02797d90ddc479ae672a620f9a71ac8.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/96/a1/96a16bb82f367d50f54ef17116f0326d.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/3f/54/3f540ab633ed305b282bb70a1673ff78.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/fd/b6/fdb6f87541cd87fff9e0421c4c0b6194.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/3a/41/3a41d93bf21004b3da0e7758bb8706f6.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/5d/b4/5db4b7865783caf66aabf3a23ea79e75.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/ee/cc/eecc86cf48ce12b1a4335143a4686667.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/71/d3/71d3f6a865dbb07f0d6af5276e89cb60.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/c1/eb/c1eb12759d8571b5cb461e5d708baa9f.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/a9/a7/a9a7ed4d9634f5ce65a8f22d18fbe9f0.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/0a/a2/0aa24262f2d49a80bec21216a89c0b16.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/46/9f/469f48b8cbefa51ce0a60c05219d0d1f.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/de/f7/def7aaac44f29af6d8deaed1af8e7324.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/2b/c1/2bc1fffb756d355714abf9c9986d9f50.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/71/7b/717b2c60d44b4352230c51cbee925db2.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/d0/6b/d06b27ad193bf1a181967ae96ffb3739.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/09/b6/09b66e10e38a68fc1300f9f2eff38d5d.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/e5/c0/e5c08b82083191a94387b35fe19f9c90.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/7c/b7/7cb750f681d544c43da266745f9cd8ca.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/29/9e/299e3e9a42042862f645334f75d7bbcb.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/1e/0b/1e0b2d88dfb4d365e0c6c83ad0deb502.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//908/bc/60/bc60991526a3d79e7c2fb23836a7b664.jpg" /></p>