Cantina R.

The beginnings We have always been in close contact with the land, farmers, for generations dedicated to the cultivation of our fields, without real specialization, the work of the fields was divided between vegetables, wine grapes and table grapes. But already young, Rocco chooses to follow his passion: to be a winemaker. The opportunity to embark on this particular adventure presented itself in 1972 following a hailstorm that compromised the aesthetics of table grapes. The choice for him and his father Emilio was to try to sell the grapes in the German markets anyway (with the risk of not getting paid for the work) or turn them into wine and sell it. At a difficult time, when there was no desire to risk seeing their results fade, they began the harvest in a small garage, with small concrete tanks and the small equipment of yesteryear. The results were so exciting that they were able to sell all the wine produced in a very short time. Our origins But the stories about our family come from even further away. In fact, Emilio used to say that his ancestors, in the 19th century, were skilled winemakers and even more skilled winemakers. We speak of a time when wine was a luxury reserved for very few, the era of sharecroppers, when the gentleman granted the use of the fields to sharecroppers and the only luxury to which it was possible to indulge was wine, or acquata! Acquata was the wine made with pressed marc, re-sealed with the addition of water and sugar (practice today absolutely prohibited). A storyteller of the time dedicated this little story to our ancestor: today In recent years, with Emilio, the third generation at the head of the company, a renewal of the philosophy of the company is taking place, which is moving towards an idea of wine more related to the region of Francavilla al Mare. The production is oriented towards wines in purity, organic, of a single vineyard, putting at the center of attention both the vine, in its essence and through the rediscovery of past processing techniques, and the wine lover, giving the opportunity to find original, unique and exciting wines. All this is part of an idea of the company that, in the near future, wants to be an example of sustainability, making itself self-sufficient from an energy point of view. The desire and the conviction were born that there should be no unconditional exploitation of resources, but that there can be harmonious development that does not weigh on the environment in an extreme way.