Product Type: White Wines
Country: Italy
Region: Puglia
Producer: Tormaresca
Alcohol: 12.5%
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Closure: Cork

Producer: Tormaresca is made up of two estates in different areas of Puglia: in the central, inland region of Castel del Monte they have Aglianico, and in the Salento peninsula of the extreme south-east, Primitivo and Negroamaro. Cabernet and Chardonnay are grown in both zones, giving the winemaker a broad palette from which to blend the very consistent entry-level wines. Antinori only invested here in 1998, yet in that time Tormaresca has become a flagship of Puglian production.

Vineyard: The Bocca di Lupo estate is planted on poor, chalky soil at 250 metres above sea level; the vines are trained using the double Guyot method, and the Chardonnay harvest typically begins in mid-August. The Masseria Maime estate to the south runs along the coast and features a mixture of bush vines and newer cordon-trained plantings. Here Chardonnay is picked from the first half of August.

Winery: The grapes were pressed softly and the must put in tanks at a temperature of 10C to achieve natural clarification. A proportion of the juice was racked to barriques for alcoholic fermentation, partial malolactic and three months ageing, before being blended with the remaining, stainless steel, component.

Taste: Bright, fruity medium-bodied Chardonnay showing the purity and richness of Puglian fruit. Very Mediterranean.

Food combination: Mediterranean light fish, octopus, salad of fish. generally not grilled.