WINE TOURS IN GIOIA del COLLE

WINE TOURS IN GIOIA del COLLE

We made two visits to wineries yesterday - one large with wine tasting and one small with lunch included.  The large winery is called Polvanera Winery.  It was started in 2000 by Filippo Cassano who studied agriculture and merged the old way of wine-making (learned from his father) with his agricultural learning.  The wines have a special designation (DOC) and stay in the cellar on average 2 years before being bottled.  After bottling, the bottles stay in the cellar for another two years.

All of the wines are made from grapes in the Gioia del Colle area and have organic certification, which allows sulphites to be added but within guidelines.  The sulphites on Polvanera wines are below the suggested guidelines.  The winery produces about 800,000 bottles per year and their goal is to reach one million.  The wines have an alcoholic content of up to 17%.

A buyer in California ordered these cases with the likenesses of the four Cassano generations involved in wine-making.  On the left is the great-great grandfather who started the process, then the grand-father, father and current owner Filippo, who began the Polvanera winery.

Stainless steel vats which hold the wine in a controlled temperature in the cellar.

The beginning of the bottle filling process; it was not in use when we toured.

After the bottles are corked, they are put on this conveyor belt for the foil to be placed over the cork.

The gold label indicating the percentage of alcohol in the wine is placed on the bottles.

In this case, 14%; bottles are placed in boxes.

The boxes are loaded on to a pallet.

This picture was taken in the cellar which is carved out of the rock.

The process being used here for their Spumanti wines is more labour-intensive as it is based on the French method for making champagne.

I've never seen a 5L bottle of wine but I guess there is a demand for it in Italy.  The 1.5L, 3L and 5L bottles have been in the cellar from 2008, 2009 & 2010.

 During the wine-tasting, the owner of the winery, Filippo, came by.

And this picture is with Carmela, who conducted the tour and the wine-tasting.  She is a very bubbly, vibrant individual.

By contrast, this is the start of the process for the small winery.  The grapes are put into a machine.

The machine separates the grapes from the stems.

The grapes are crushed by this 'propeller' (part of the machine).

The grape juice is piped into the cellar via this hose.

This was a very relaxing, enjoyable day.  The meal at the small winery was excellent.