A delicious primitivo with light jam, orange peel and plum compote aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with light tannins and a flavorful finish. Nicely done. Drink now.
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Puglia has a long agrarian history, thanks to its relatively high proportion of flat or rolling terrain suitable for growing crops. For many centuries, Puglia’s agriculture was dominated by extensive land grants from the ruling nobility. Known as latifundi, these holdings were the equivalent of plantations or haciendas in other countries, often controlled by absentee landowners and worked by local peasants and sharecroppers. Beginning in the 16th century in Puglia, many of these latifundi began to build structures known as masserie. The masseria was sort of a cross between a castle and a farmhouse and was designed to improve the life of the farmworkers. It was typically a large stone building located in or near the fields of the latifundo with room for the managers and many of the farmworkers to sleep and for storage of equipment and harvests. It was also intended to be strong enough to protect the inhabitants from raids by pirates, bandits, and marauding soldiers.
The latifundi began to be broken up during the period of Napoleonic rule in Italy at the end of the 1700s and early 1800s, and the essentially feudal system that they represented was outlawed in 1950. By that time, most of the masserias had fallen into disrepair. One such ruin was Masseria Li Veli, located near the center of the Salento Peninsula in southern Puglia, on the southern slopes of the Murgia plateau. Many masserias have been reconstructed as residences or agritourism accommodations beginning in the 1970s, but this particular one was rebuilt much earlier for a different purpose.
The crumbling Masseria Li Veli was acquired in the late 19th century by Marchese Antonio de Viti de Marco (1858–1943), an important economist and professor who was influential in the theory of public finance in the Kingdom of Italy. In 1895, the masseria was restored to serve as a model wine cellar, demonstrating an ambitious concept for economic development for all of southern Italy. It stayed in operation until the 1950s.
The masseria is once again functioning as an important winemaking facility, having been renovated and modernized into an up-to-date production center for the Li Veli wines. The Falvo family, former owners of the Avignonesi winery in Tuscany but with Puglian roots, purchased the masseria and its 128 acres of land in 1999 and breathed new life into de Viti de Marco’s project. The vision is to establish a new quality benchmark in the region, through both vineyard management and vinification.
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LOCATIONWINERY: Cellino San Marco (Brindisi province), Puglia VINEYARD: Salento peninsula, Puglia VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS REGION DETAILS |
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91
AUGUST 2022
Masseria Li Veli “Orion” Primitivo Salento IGT 2020
A delicious primitivo with light jam, orange peel and plum compote aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with light tannins and a flavorful finish. Nicely done. Drink now. NOVEMBER 2022
Masseria Li Veli “Askos” Verdeca Salento IGT 2021
90
JUNE 2021
Masseria Li Veli “Torrerose” Negroamaro Rosato Salento IGT 2020
The 2020 Rosato Negroamaro Primerose lifts up with a delightfully spicy and perfumed bouquet. Rich textural depths are nicely offset by a mix of brisk acids, young strawberry fruits and chalky mineral tones. Inner rose blends with peach herbal tea as the Primerose finishes with refreshing persistence. If you’ve never experienced a Negroamaro Rose, this would be a great place to start. SEPTEMBER 2024
Masseria Li Veli “Askos” Susumaniello Salento IGT 2022
There’s a good deal of complexity in this wine from the relatively obscure Susumaniello grape. Aged in French oak barrels, it offers brambly dark berry and garrigue herb aromas. On the palate, the fruit is accented by hints of semi-sweet chocolate, espresso, and cinnamon. The vines grow in clay, sand, calcareous soils and the wine has a textured minerality. 87
NOVEMBER 2022
Masseria Li Veli “Primonero” Negroamaro Salento IGT 2021
Light-bodied and lively, this easy drinking, snappy red offers flavors of wild cherry, sage and spice box. Drink now. 4,000 cases made, 1,000 cases imported. 91
DECEMBER 2023
Masseria Li Veli “Askos” Susumaniello Salento IGT 2021
Dark and juicy, with an aromatic overtone of fragrant herb, this shows flavors blackberry compote with hints of eucalyptus and anise hyssop, mocha and smoke sculpted by fine tannins that firm the focused finish. Drink now through 2029. 90
MAY 2020
Masseria Li Veli “Torrerose” Negroamaro Rosato Salento IGT 2019
The 2019 Masseria Li Veli Primerose is spicy and smoky from the start, giving way to savory herbs, crushed stone, and notes of ripe pear. On the palate, soft textures are contrasted by saturating minerals and juicy acids, as this seems to hover over the senses, gaining pretty inner florals that last throughout the long and peppery finish. Negroamaro Rosato is always so unique and still an under-the-radar gem from Italy. 90
OCTOBER 2020
Masseria Li Veli “Passamante” Salice Salentino DOC 2018
Spicy and savory on the nose, this red shows loads of thyme, bay leaf and pepper, with ripe dark plum riding behind. The palate is smooth and supple, with bright acidity pushing it along, yet all the while succulent flavors of dark plum and berry fruit never skip a beat. Herbs and spice play second fiddle to the fruit on the palate but lend nice grip alongside firm yet polished tannins. |