2015 Susumaniello Sum (Salento)

The Perrucci family had long sold bottled bulk wine but opted to make their own wine starting with the 1989 vintage. And so began the illustrious history of one of Italy’s most accomplished and important estates. Puglian wine is no longer just the rustic and bulk wine fodder it once was. A great deal of the credit goes to current owner Gregory Perrucci and his team. The Felline Primitivo was the 1996, made in cooperation with enologist Roberto Cipress. It highlighted the link between Primitivo and the red soils typical of the region. Since then, Felline has gone on to specialize in the production of many different Primitivos from a great diversity of soils. In 1998 Perrucci created the Accademia dei Racemi, a project that allowed him to further study Puglian vineyards and terroirs, and ultimately led to the creation of an internal demarcation of soil types within the estate. In a memorable Vinitaly blind tasting held at the end of the 1990s, wine experts got to taste, for the first time ever, Primitivos made from different soils and identified as such. Felline has also been at the forefront of the rediscovery of Susumaniello and Ottavianello, two ancient indigenous grapes. The estate now makes 800,000 bottles a year and owns 85 hectares in Manduria and another 22 hectares in Torre Guaceto.