Vallone Appassimento Rosso Passito Salento IGP

Produced from 100% Negroamaro grapes sourced from a 10ha vineyard with soils rich in clay and limestone, just 3km from the Adriatic. Following the 'appassimento' process, the grapes are late-harvested, left to dry naturally on the vine, before being pressed and vinified. This increases the concentration of sugars, and produces wines with slightly higher alcohol and residual sweetness. The grapes are gently pressed and fermented in stainless steel, with malolactic fermentation in concrete - where the wine is left to rest for around 8-10 months, followed by 3-4 months in bottle.

Founded in 1935, this well-established family winery is one of the original quality producers of the Salento peninsula. Of the family's 600 hectares of land spread over three estates, vineyards cover 170 hectares, whilst the rest is planted with a plethora of other agricultural crops, including some of the oldest olive groves in the country.

Sisters Vittoria and Maria Teresa, along with Francesco, Vallone own and run the estate - which was established by Vittoria and Maria Teresa's grandfather. The Vallone sisters produce wines consistently rated amongst the best in Puglia.

Agricole Vallone has two different winemaking facilities, each with the most advanced, up-to-date equipment. The Flaminio estate, near Brindisi, houses the cellar where all the wines are vinified, while the Copertino cellar, in the province of Lecce, carries out the process of maturation in oak, using both large botti and small French oak barrels. Their Tenuta Serranova estate lies up the coast from Brindisi.

Tenuta Serranova takes its name from the Castello di Serranova – a ‘masseria’ or fortified house just 5km from the Adriatic coast in the north of Brindisi. It was built in 1350 as a defence against the neighbouring Turkish forces, and now sits in the Torre Guaceto nature reserve which surrounds an ancient coastal watchtower. The castle was enlarged in the 1600s to become an important agricultural estate, and was purchased by the Vallone family in the 19th Century. The Tenuta Serranova estate is managed organically, and the vineyards planted on mixed sand and clay soils are predominantly Susumaniello (10ha) and Ottavianello (3ha), alongside Fiano and Negroamaro. It is also home to 60 hectares of olive trees – probably the largest single-owned olive tree plantation of its kind in Salento.