Travel up and down the heel on both sides. Dinner on the cape where the Ionian Sea and Adriatic meet. Home to 60 million olive trees, it's the capital of Olive Oil. Sleep in renovated caves in Matera. Apulia is Italy's hot spot. See for yourself!
LECCE ~ MATERA ~ BRINDISI ~ OSTUNI ~ MANDURIA ~ ALBEROBELLO
VISIT WORLD-CLASS WINERIES DAILY
SUNSET ON THE CAPE WHERE THE IONIA SEA MEETS THE ADRIATIC SEA
MEDIEVAL CITIES
VISIT WORLD-CLASS WINERIES DAILY
SUNSET ON THE CAPE WHERE THE IONIA SEA MEETS THE ADRIATIC SEA
MEDIEVAL CITIES
Day 1
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Fly into Brindisi
Upon Arrival at Brindisi airport, clear customs, collect luggage and proceed to the arrivals hall where you will be greeted by Jamie, Marcus and our driver. Look for VIP Winery Vacations sign. We will then transfer to Monopoli to begin our amazing week of lots of wine and food together. Our tour will begin with a welcome drink and small bites after we check into the hotel. On your own you can explore the city and visit the cathedral, Porta Vecchia and shops in the city before dinner together as a group at a local restaurant.
Hotel Check in Monopoli Hotel Don Ferrant
Welcome drink and appetizers
Visit Cathedrals, Porta Vecchia, Walk around and explore
Late Dinner together at a local restaurant
Upon Arrival at Brindisi airport, clear customs, collect luggage and proceed to the arrivals hall where you will be greeted by Jamie, Marcus and our driver. Look for VIP Winery Vacations sign. We will then transfer to Monopoli to begin our amazing week of lots of wine and food together. Our tour will begin with a welcome drink and small bites after we check into the hotel. On your own you can explore the city and visit the cathedral, Porta Vecchia and shops in the city before dinner together as a group at a local restaurant.
Hotel Check in Monopoli Hotel Don Ferrant
Welcome drink and appetizers
Visit Cathedrals, Porta Vecchia, Walk around and explore
Late Dinner together at a local restaurant
Day 2
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Enjoy Continental Breakfast
9:00am Check out of hotel Leave Brindisi, hop on the bus and off we go! 1st winery here we come… We will have a tour and tasting at Tenute Rubino in Brindisi. We will have a delicious lunch followed by a Vinegar Tour and tasting. Check into the Risorgimento Hotel in Lecce for the next two nights. There will be a reception with some wine and appetizers after you settle in. Lecce is a city in Italy’s southern Apulia region. It's known for its baroque buildings. In the central Piazza del Duomo, the Cattedrale di Lecce has a double facade and a bell tower. The Basilica di Santa Croce features sculptures and a rose window. Nearby are the Sant’Oronzo Column, a Roman column topped with a bronze statue of the city’s patron saint, and the sunken Roman amphitheater. Free time walking and exploring Lecce before dinner. Gourmet Dinner will be in Lecce this evening with some vino. 9pm |
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Day 3
Buffet Breakfast at Hotel before we head out and visit two wineries today. The first winery is Cantele where we will get a short tour, some sparkling wine on the porch and a gourmet lunch. Find out the love affair with wine that the Cantele family has had for many generations. As we sit and sip wine we will look at Puglia’s beautiful Salento peninsula as its backdrop.
Next stop is Schola Sarmenti. Schola Sarmenti was born from the union of dreams, passion, and pride. We will taste Negroamaro, Susumaniellonello and Primitivo. This is where Jamie feel in the love with Primitivo, Zinfandel of Italy.This winery was an old 1800’s winery and it took them 3 years to renovate.
Today, you will learn some history on Southern Italy and how wine production changed from selling grapes to the north to producing wonderful wines.
After tasting wine we will head back to Lecce for an evening of free time. Walk around, get some dinner and enjoy the sights.
Back to Lecce for the evening
Dinner on your own
Next stop is Schola Sarmenti. Schola Sarmenti was born from the union of dreams, passion, and pride. We will taste Negroamaro, Susumaniellonello and Primitivo. This is where Jamie feel in the love with Primitivo, Zinfandel of Italy.This winery was an old 1800’s winery and it took them 3 years to renovate.
Today, you will learn some history on Southern Italy and how wine production changed from selling grapes to the north to producing wonderful wines.
After tasting wine we will head back to Lecce for an evening of free time. Walk around, get some dinner and enjoy the sights.
Back to Lecce for the evening
Dinner on your own
Day 4
Enjoy a Buffett Breakfast then we will Checkout from Hotel and head to Manduria area to some wineries.
We will begin with a tour and tasting at Produttori Vini Manduria Coop for some history about the creation of the Co-op. We will have small bites with tasting here.
Next stop is the beautiful Trullo di Pezza winery. We will do a tasting of their delicious wines.
We don’t want to miss one of the best winemakers in Italy, GianFranco Fino. Here we will see how small the operation is and taste a few wines before we head to Matera for the evening.
We will check into the beautiful caves in the mountains at Sant’Angelo Luxury Hotel. We will have a late pizza party a short walk from the hotel and talk about all the wines we have visited so far.
We will begin with a tour and tasting at Produttori Vini Manduria Coop for some history about the creation of the Co-op. We will have small bites with tasting here.
Next stop is the beautiful Trullo di Pezza winery. We will do a tasting of their delicious wines.
We don’t want to miss one of the best winemakers in Italy, GianFranco Fino. Here we will see how small the operation is and taste a few wines before we head to Matera for the evening.
We will check into the beautiful caves in the mountains at Sant’Angelo Luxury Hotel. We will have a late pizza party a short walk from the hotel and talk about all the wines we have visited so far.
Day 5
Breakfast at hotel. Today we will visit Alberbello city, is famous for its unique trullo buildings. A trullo (plural, trulli) is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof. Their style of construction is specific to the Itria Valley, in the Murge area of the Italian region of Apulia. Trulli generally were constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or, as permanent dwellings by small proprietors or agricultural labourers. In the town of Alberobello, in the province of Bari, whole districts contain dense concentrations of trulli. The golden age of trulli was the nineteenth century, especially its final decades, which were marked by the development of wine growing.
In the afternoon we will visit One of the best pasta factories in Italy. Pasta made by hand. The Best Ingredients Make the Best Pasta!
Back to Matera where you will have free time to walk around and visit this beautiful city. Then we will have dinner together at a local restaurant. Enjoy the night lights in this amazing city.
In the afternoon we will visit One of the best pasta factories in Italy. Pasta made by hand. The Best Ingredients Make the Best Pasta!
Back to Matera where you will have free time to walk around and visit this beautiful city. Then we will have dinner together at a local restaurant. Enjoy the night lights in this amazing city.
Day 6
Wake up in this beautiful city. See why Jamie and Marcus feel in love with this magnificent place. Breakfast buffet this morning. Matera is a city on a rocky outcrop in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It includes the Sassi area, a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside. Evacuated in 1952 due to poor living conditions, the Sassi now houses museums like the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, with period furniture and artisan tools. Nearby rock churches include St. Lucia alle Malve, with 13th-century frescoes. Optional tour of the church in Matera or free time walking around the city. Check out of the hotel and start heading north to Botromgno for a tour, tasting and small bites. This is the highest elevated vineyards in Apulia. Tonight we will stay in the Vulture region and have dinner together at a local restaurant.
Day 7
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Breakfast Buffet then out we go to do more wine tastings and tours. We are now going to be in the Basilicata region. We will learn about Aglianico del Vulture DOC wines and the volcanic origin. In the morning we will visit the ageing cellar of Bisceglia and taste their wines and get an amazing tour.
Next stop is Grifalco Winery. The organically cultivated vineyards of Grifalco are deeply rooted in the volcanic soil of Vulture on hillsides between 450 and 580 meters above sea level, with vines up to 80 years old. Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately, creating wines that stay true to their distinct terroir.
We are nearing the end of our trip and we are going to head to the East Coast and stay in Molfetta for the next two nights.
Check into the hotel and have a welcome drink. Dinner will be at a local restaurant.
Next stop is Grifalco Winery. The organically cultivated vineyards of Grifalco are deeply rooted in the volcanic soil of Vulture on hillsides between 450 and 580 meters above sea level, with vines up to 80 years old. Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately, creating wines that stay true to their distinct terroir.
We are nearing the end of our trip and we are going to head to the East Coast and stay in Molfetta for the next two nights.
Check into the hotel and have a welcome drink. Dinner will be at a local restaurant.
Day 8
After breakfast we will venture out for our last winery and tour and tasting at Villa Schinosa Winery. Villa Schinosa is located outside the spectacular coastal town of Trani. Their winemaker, Cristoforo Pastore, is a second-generation enologist and native of Puglia with a captivatingly impressive command of southern Italian varieties and their origins, which he attributes to his father’s strong knowledge and love for all things ‘local’.
Head back to Molfetta for the evening and we will have our farewell dinner in an Osteria with Southern Italian food. WE will reminisce about the great food and wine we had all week.
Head back to Molfetta for the evening and we will have our farewell dinner in an Osteria with Southern Italian food. WE will reminisce about the great food and wine we had all week.
Day 9
Transit to Brindisi Airport
Hotels
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Grand Hotel Masseria Santa Lucia
Immersed in the greenery a few meters from the shores of the Adriatic Sea, at the extreme edge of the eastern Murge, the Grand Hotel Masseria Santa Lucia , proposes in a contemporary key the hospitality and shapes of the ancient farms of Puglia: a suggestive world and in extinction, to which the architecture of the hotel refers with discretion.
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Masseria Cervarolo
Masseria Cervarolo is a farm with trulli, raised in the sixteenth century, on a hill of 250 meters. overlooking a vast and fertile plain 6 km from Ostuni.
Like many Apulian farms, the buildings were born and changed over the centuries according to the cultivation and production practices. The toponym 'Cervarolo ”originates from the presence of deer on the last offshoots of the Murgia when they were covered by dense wooded areas.
Attached to the farm, dedicated to the Virgin of Sorrows (1798), there is a small church with a splendid polychromatic Baroque altar and numerous frescoes. The church was a very important place of worship and this is testified by the discovery of numerous ex voto. Legends are linked to Masseria Cervarolo which have made it a place of pilgrimage for those who are in search of serenity. It is also said that, in the area of the farm, spring arrives a few weeks early and that the surrounding farmers regulate agricultural activities by virtue of this "phenomenon".
Like many Apulian farms, the buildings were born and changed over the centuries according to the cultivation and production practices. The toponym 'Cervarolo ”originates from the presence of deer on the last offshoots of the Murgia when they were covered by dense wooded areas.
Attached to the farm, dedicated to the Virgin of Sorrows (1798), there is a small church with a splendid polychromatic Baroque altar and numerous frescoes. The church was a very important place of worship and this is testified by the discovery of numerous ex voto. Legends are linked to Masseria Cervarolo which have made it a place of pilgrimage for those who are in search of serenity. It is also said that, in the area of the farm, spring arrives a few weeks early and that the surrounding farmers regulate agricultural activities by virtue of this "phenomenon".
Vinilia Wine Resort
Vinilia Wine Resort was born by the wise and careful renovation of an ancient mansion dating back to the early '900, built on behalf of the aristocratic family Schiavone of Manduria, with origins between Rome and Manduria. The Roman designer of that building was inspired, in construction, to a neo-eclectic style typical of the Roman school of that period. The structure is, in fact, like an old manor house with tower and turrets, battlements, loopholes and decorations of monumental proportions and a main body that resembles a small medieval castle. In historical maps the building is always identified as "Casina Ciracì" although we don't know the origins of the name.
The building was then supported by secondary structures, typically rural, with stables functions, deposits and outbuildings. An Italian garden adorned the rear part the manor on which overlooked the large terrace, to the south of the building. The presence of two large cisterns to collect rainwater, located in the vicinity of the main building is of great importance.
The property was later purchased by Lacaita / Parisi Family and was completely restored, saving it from a serious degradation to which it had been abandoned.
Of particular interest it is the internal staircase over 3 floors, built with rampant masonry vaults resting on small vaults. The project of restoration and recovery, has been preserved as much as possible the original wall structure, eliminating the various accretions, built over decades and bringing new life to the building.
The building was then supported by secondary structures, typically rural, with stables functions, deposits and outbuildings. An Italian garden adorned the rear part the manor on which overlooked the large terrace, to the south of the building. The presence of two large cisterns to collect rainwater, located in the vicinity of the main building is of great importance.
The property was later purchased by Lacaita / Parisi Family and was completely restored, saving it from a serious degradation to which it had been abandoned.
Of particular interest it is the internal staircase over 3 floors, built with rampant masonry vaults resting on small vaults. The project of restoration and recovery, has been preserved as much as possible the original wall structure, eliminating the various accretions, built over decades and bringing new life to the building.
Sant'Angelo Luxury Resort
Located inside the Matera Sassi UNESCO site, the hotel’s unique location and original structure, typically laid out in rows, provides panoramic views of characteristic city streets and courtyards.
Hotel Sant'Angelo is made up of 21 historic dwellings, each one different in style with an interior design that blends the original structure with modern furnishings.
Enjoy a unique and relaxing holiday at Hotel Sant’Angelo. Hotel staff are available to assist you with tourist information and suggest new itineraries and dining venues.
Set into the hillside, Hotel Sant’Angelo is near the beaches of the Ionian Sea and the archaeological sites of Metaponto and Policoro. You can also discover nearby attractions such as WWF Bosco Pantano, Melfi and Venosa Castles and Pollino National Park to name a few.
Hotel Sant'Angelo is made up of 21 historic dwellings, each one different in style with an interior design that blends the original structure with modern furnishings.
Enjoy a unique and relaxing holiday at Hotel Sant’Angelo. Hotel staff are available to assist you with tourist information and suggest new itineraries and dining venues.
Set into the hillside, Hotel Sant’Angelo is near the beaches of the Ionian Sea and the archaeological sites of Metaponto and Policoro. You can also discover nearby attractions such as WWF Bosco Pantano, Melfi and Venosa Castles and Pollino National Park to name a few.
Risorgimento Resort
Featuring a roof-top restaurant with panoramic views, the Risorgimento Resort is in Lecce’s Baroque historic center. It offers free Wi-Fi throughout the property, large modern rooms, and a relaxing spa.
Rooms are air-conditioned and include a minibar and satellite TV. Each has a marble bathroom with bathrobes and slippers.
The attentive staff provides a continental buffet breakfast. The 3 restaurants offer both Salento flavors and classic Italian cooking. Drinks and snacks are available all day at the Janet Ross Bar.
The health club features a Turkish bath and multisensory shower. Massage and beauty treatments are also available.
Piazza Sant’Oronzo is just 350 feet from Risorgimento Resort - Vestas Hotels & Resorts. The Cathedral is a 5-minute walk away.
Rooms are air-conditioned and include a minibar and satellite TV. Each has a marble bathroom with bathrobes and slippers.
The attentive staff provides a continental buffet breakfast. The 3 restaurants offer both Salento flavors and classic Italian cooking. Drinks and snacks are available all day at the Janet Ross Bar.
The health club features a Turkish bath and multisensory shower. Massage and beauty treatments are also available.
Piazza Sant’Oronzo is just 350 feet from Risorgimento Resort - Vestas Hotels & Resorts. The Cathedral is a 5-minute walk away.
Wineries
Botromagno
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The winery is located in the town of Gravina in Puglia. The Gravina DOC, which is named after the town, is one of Puglia’s most important appellations.
The D’Agostinos have been the only ones to invest in the Gravina DOC, recovering the production of this white wine and rebuilding its reputation as an elegant and versatile wine. Today they are the only producers of the flavorful and refreshing Gravina, which is considered by many to be one of the most exciting whites from Southern Italy. |
Cantele
At the end of World War II, when most of the population of Puglia was moving North to work in the big factories near Torino and Milano, Giovanni Battista Cantele, a wine merchant living in the nothern city of Imola, moved his family to Salento. The final decision was made by his wife Teresa Manara, who, at the time, barely knew anything about the area but fell in love with Puglia at first sight. She would later become the inspiration for a wine that now bears her name. After studying winemaking in Conegliano, Giovanni's son, Augusto Cantele, started the family winery, Cantine Cantele, with his father and his brother Domenico in 1979. Today, Teresa Manara and Giovanni Battista Cantele’s grandchildren run the winery together: Augusto’s children, Gianni and Paolo; and Domenico’s children, Umberto and Luisa. The Cantele winery is located in Guagnano, in the heart of the DOC where Negro Amaro dominates the landscape.
Consorzio Produttori Vini
Produttori di Manduria is the oldest active wine cooperative in Puglia: it was first established in 1928 as “Federazione Vini di Manduria” and then converted in to a cooperative in 1932 as “Consorzio Vini e Mosti di Manduria”. Despite being in one of the major wine producing Regions in Italy (Puglia usually ranks 2nd or 3rd in the national ranking in terms of wine produced), Produttori di Manduria is structured and operates like an Alto Adige cooperative, with 400 small growers farming 900 hectares of vineyards: with an average 2.25 hectares per member, each grower is able to carry out most of the vineyard management by hand with an extreme attention to quality. Primitivo represents the major focus of the winery, both in terms of vineyards planted (over 60% of the total) and in terms of tradition: Manduria is considered the birth place of the native Primitivo grape, so much so that in 1974 the Italian Government recognized a specific DOC appellation to the Primitivo made in Manduria.
Agricole Vallone
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Basking in the balmy, Adriatic-cooled microlimate of the Salento peninsula in Puglia, on Italy’s heel, Agricole Vallone is a large, multi-tasking agricultural concern, with 170 hectares of vines interspersed with other crops, mostly olive trees, artichokes and vegetables. It was founded in 1934, but like others at the time, sold grapes to the local co-operative. It was only in the late 1990s that it began bottling its own wines, but it quickly made its name with its flagship wine, Graticciaia, a partially barrel-aged red made largely from negromaro grapes dried on mats (graticci) in the Autumn sunshine. Designated IGT Salento, this is a very special wine with powerful, concentrated flavours that ages beautifully. For more informal drinking, DOC Brindisi Rosso and its rosato equivalent from the Flaminio estate are hugely popular with members.
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GiannFranco
Gianfranco Fino's focus has been about quality: no compromises, no short-cuts, and obsessive attention to his vineyards. This attention to detail runs deeply, and Gianfranco works tirelessly to improve his vineyards, his estate, and his wines. He and his wife Simona share a deep and abiding passion for winemaking, which has led them on a fulfilling, lifelong journey—a journey which shows in every bottle of their high-quality, delicious wines. The wines consistently receive 90+ ratings from highly-regarded professionals and critics alike and are always a pleasure to drink. Location of Vineyards Gianfranco Fino’s goal was to find a vineyard with the perfect combination of characteristics: vine maturity, bush cultivation in red soil, good planting density, controlled vigor, and proper clonal selection. The company was born in January 2004, when they purchased a three-acre, 50 year-old vineyard in the Manduria region of Puglia. In 2006, two other small plots were saved from being uprooted and added. Today, the estate covers 37 acres, including a little plot of 40-year old Negroamaro vines near the sea. Winemaking Philosophy Gianfranco Fino allows his grapes to dry on the vines for a bit of time before collecting them to make his wine. This concentrates the sugar and flavors inside the grapes which will result in a more flavorful wine. He hand-harvests all the grapes, taking special care to make sure that each bunch is free of mold and perfectly ripe. In the winery, he believes in using a healthy balance of new and inert oak to give the wines a hint of barrel aging without covering up any of his terroir's expression.
Tenute Rubino
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In the late 1980s, Tommaso Rubino converted his grain and vegetable farms to vines for winemaking. He helped pioneer the region’s shift away from bulk production towards an emphasis on quality, while showcasing Puglia’s native grape varietals. With vineyards spanning along Puglia’s eastern coastline around the town of Brindisi, Tommaso Rubino, and his son Luigi have worked for decades to promote Puglia’s indigenous varietals. It was with Luigi’s instigation that the family decided to start bottling their own wines, and thus in 1999, Tenute Rubino was born.
While he produces several excellent examples of the better-known Primitivo, as well as Negroamaro, Malvasia Bianca, and several blends of local grapes, Luigi will absolutely tell you that for him, Susumaniello is Puglia’s future. As one of the first to produce a wine from 100% Susumaniello, they have the most plantings (10%) of this rare varietal still planted today. It fell into obscurity because its yields, while plentiful in the vine’s youth (the name derives from a local dialect word for donkey, referring to the plant being “burdened” with so many clusters of grapes) dropped off dramatically as the vine aged. But it is also incredibly distinctive and versatile, offering rich fruity aromas of plum, blackberry and strawberry, balanced by lively spice notes like pepper and vanilla. It can be made into styles ranging from sparkling rosé to dense barrel-matured red. |
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Cantine PandoraWhen one thinks of Salento, one thinks of the beautiful sea, but also of fine food and the land from which a good wine is produced. Cantine Pandora is the expression of the work, effort and passion for the land and the vineyards where it is produced. an excellent Negroamaro, primitive, malvasia, red wines with a strong and intense flavour and fresh rosés and whites, more and more appreciated. With such dedication, all that remains is to raise the glasses for a toast with the Salento wines of Cantine Pandora.
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Lucano DistilleryPassion since 1894 Quality, knowledge, tradition and ideas. These values have made Lucano one of the major players on the spirits market in Italy and abroad for more than one hundred and twenty years. A story made of passion and authenticity, held in the secret recipe of Cavaliere Pasquale Vena.
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Attractions
Gianni Calogiuri VincottoVincotto (Original) by Gianni Calogiuri Vincotto is a velvety liquid made by cooking and reducing the grape must from two distinct grape varietals, malvasia and negroamaro, for a period of fifteen hours. It is then aged for four years in oak barrels, allowing the taste and consistency to develop. While there are some overtones of a fine Balsamic, this elixir must never be confused with Balsamic vinegar. Vincotto has nuances of prunes, spices, and heady grape components and is not as woody as Balsamic. Use Vincotto as a condiment, drizzling sparsely over game, roasted meats, salads, aged cheeses, and certain desserts. This is a natural product without any alcohol, colorants, or preservatives.
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Pastificio del Colle
Puglia, the sunny southern region of Italy, offers the ideal place for excellent pasta production. Here, the “Pastificio del Colle”, thanks to the winning combination of tradition and a developed technology, has reached a leading position among the best pasta manufacturers in Italy.
Mr. Vito Nettis, current owner of the “Pastificio del Colle”, is the nephew of Vito Nettis senior, who at the beginning of the 1920s carried out various activities in the food field: ice production, soft wheat mill, oven and pasta. For the “Pastificio del Colle”, the past, the present and the future are a perfect blend to achieve excellence.
Tradition and innovation can fully meet the needs of customers, offering them a wide range of pastes, from traditional bronze-trained formats to new hand-crafted sizes. All our production can be white, flavored and colored with natural essences. Colored pasta has therefore become the true novelty and a popular sign of Pastaficio del Colle’s recognition.
Mr. Vito Nettis, current owner of the “Pastificio del Colle”, is the nephew of Vito Nettis senior, who at the beginning of the 1920s carried out various activities in the food field: ice production, soft wheat mill, oven and pasta. For the “Pastificio del Colle”, the past, the present and the future are a perfect blend to achieve excellence.
Tradition and innovation can fully meet the needs of customers, offering them a wide range of pastes, from traditional bronze-trained formats to new hand-crafted sizes. All our production can be white, flavored and colored with natural essences. Colored pasta has therefore become the true novelty and a popular sign of Pastaficio del Colle’s recognition.
Cities
Lecce
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Lecce is a city in Italy’s southern Apulia region. It's known for its baroque buildings. In the central Piazza del Duomo, the Cattedrale di Lecce has a double facade and a bell tower. The Basilica di Santa Croce features sculptures and a rose window. Nearby are the Sant’Oronzo Column, a Roman column topped with a bronze statue of the city’s patron saint, and the sunken Roman amphitheater.
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Matera
Matera is a city on a rocky outcrop in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It includes the Sassi area, a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside. Evacuated in 1952 due to poor living conditions, the Sassi now houses museums like the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, with period furniture and artisan tools. Nearby rock churches include St. Lucia alle Malve, with 13th-century frescoes.
The town of Matera was founded by the Roman Lucius Caecilius Metellus in 251 BC who called it Matheola. In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento. Anne Parmly Toxey writes that "The date of Matera's founding is debated; however, the revered work of the city’s early chroniclers provides numerous, generally accepted accounts of Goth, Longobard, Byzantine, and Saracen sieges of the city beginning in the eighth century and accelerating through the ninth century CE."[8] In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonised by both Benedictine and Basilian monastic institutions. The 9th and 10th centuries were characterised by the struggle between the Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who partially destroyed the city. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043.
The town of Matera was founded by the Roman Lucius Caecilius Metellus in 251 BC who called it Matheola. In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento. Anne Parmly Toxey writes that "The date of Matera's founding is debated; however, the revered work of the city’s early chroniclers provides numerous, generally accepted accounts of Goth, Longobard, Byzantine, and Saracen sieges of the city beginning in the eighth century and accelerating through the ninth century CE."[8] In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonised by both Benedictine and Basilian monastic institutions. The 9th and 10th centuries were characterised by the struggle between the Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who partially destroyed the city. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043.
Brindisi
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Brindisi is a port city on the Adriatic Sea, in southern Italy’s Apulia region. The red-stone Aragonese Castle stands on a small island at the harbor’s entrance. The tall Monumento al Marinaio d’Italia, a rudder-shaped limestone memorial to sailors, has sea and city views. Across the harbor, the Swabian Castle of Brindisi dates from the 13th century. At the top of Virgil’s Staircase are the Roman Columns.
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Alberobello
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Alberobello is a town in Italy’s Apulia region. It’s known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. The hilltop Rione Monti district has hundreds of them. The 18th-century Trullo Sovrano is a 2-level trulli. Furniture and tools at the Museo del Territorio Casa Pezzolla re-create life in the trulli as it was centuries ago. Southwest of town is the Casa Rossa, a WWII internment camp.
A first occupation of the area started only in the early sixteenth century on the impulse of the Count of Conversano Andrea Matteo III Acquaviva d'Aragona. He allowed about forty peasant families from Noci to settle here and cultivate the land, with the obligation to give him the tenth of the crops. |
Ostuni
Ostuni is a city in Italy’s Apulia region that's known for its whitewashed old town. Ostuni Cathedral combines Gothic, Romanesque and Byzantine elements, while the arched Porta San Demetrio is one of 2 remaining medieval gates. The Civic Museum and Archaeological Park houses Ostuni 1, the skeleton of a woman from Paleolithic times. Northwest of town is the Santuario di Sant’Oronzo complex, with a triumphal arch.
This VIP Winery Vacation includes ground transportation, boutique hotels, winery tours & tastings, most meals and coach ground transportation.
Depart US Friday, April 16th 2020. Arrive in Brindisi Italy on Saturday, April 17th morning.
Depart US Friday, April 16th 2020. Arrive in Brindisi Italy on Saturday, April 17th morning.
