Wine Tastings, Winery Visits and Wine Tours in Itria Valley

Wine tasting in the Itria Valley: which wineries to visit

The Itria Valley (Valle d'Itria), also known as the Valley of the Trulli, is the southern part of the Murge plateau in Puglia. Its towns are Cisternino, Locorotondo and Martina Franca, with parts of Alberobello, Ceglie Messapica and Ostuni. Alberobello is about an hour's drive from Bari airport, and Ostuni about half an hour from Brindisi airport. This page lists about ten wineries, some of them on masserie, the traditional farmsteads of the Puglia countryside. Most tastings, more than three in four, take between an hour and a half and two and a half hours and pour 3 to 6 wines; guests have left more than 200 reviews of them on Winedering.

Which wineries should you visit in the Itria Valley?

Masseria Torricella and Tenuta Santoro, both family estates, take more than four in five of the bookings on this page between them:

• Masseria Torricella, in Alberobello, out in the Canale di Pirro: a masseria dating back to 1946, with organic vineyards next to the winery. After a walk through the vines you sit down to a light lunch with 6 wines, from a Fiano Minutolo to Tramonti, a brut rosé made from Primitivo, each paired with its own dishes, such as Martina Franca capocollo or Podolica caciocavallo cheese.
• Tenuta Santoro, in the part of the Ostuni countryside that lies inside the valley, between Cisternino and Martina Franca: you walk among young and century-old vines, go down into an underground cellar dug out over five generations, then taste 3 Valle d'Itria IGP wines in a trullo where the family lived for four generations. The white blends Verdeca, Bianco d'Alessano and Marchione; the rosé and the red are Susumaniello.

Alberobello, Locorotondo, Martina Franca or Ostuni: where should you go wine tasting?

Any of the four, because distances are short: from Alberobello, Locorotondo is about ten minutes' drive and Ostuni about 40 minutes. Transport is not included, so you will need a car or a driver.

• In Alberobello, besides Torricella: Cantina Museo Albea, in the town, with a tour of the winery and its wine museum, then 3 wines with taralli.
• In Locorotondo: Cantina Mir, a small winery built around an 1860 building in the town centre, with cellars carved into the limestone; 2 of its 5 wines are poured straight from an amphora and a tonneau.
• In Martina Franca: Tenute Girolamo pours 4 estate wines with cured meats, cheeses, friselline and focaccia, or 7 with a light lunch.
• Around Ostuni: Masseria San Paolo Grande serves 3 estate wines, a Fiano, a Susumaniello rosé and a Primitivo, with its own olive oil, and Domini San Calare takes you out to its vineyards in a 1991 Range Rover; they are spread over four rural districts between Ostuni, Ceglie Messapica and Cisternino.
• In the Fasano countryside: Masseria Parco della Grava, with a sunset tasting after a walk among vines and centuries-old olive trees.

For something more substantial, Albea hosts a sunset aperitivo in one of its vineyards, 15 minutes' drive from the winery, with focaccia, capocollo and stracciatella; Puglia Pop, in Martina Franca, sets up a picnic among the vines; and Monsignore, at Pezze di Greco near Fasano, shows you its cellar, a 1914 olive mill, then pairs 4 wines with a gourmet tasting menu.

What wine is the Itria Valley known for?

White wine, above all. The Locorotondo and Martina Franca DOCs, both created in 1969, are white wines made mainly from Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano; you can taste a Locorotondo DOC at Albea's vineyard aperitivo. Then there is Minutolo, long known as Fiano Aromatico until DNA testing showed it was a separate variety. It was revived here in the Itria Valley, and Torricella pours it as Fiano Minutolo. Among the reds you will meet Primitivo most often, and Puglia Pop also pours a Primitivo di Manduria, from Salento, further south. Susumaniello is poured by Santoro, Puglia Pop and San Paolo Grande.

When is the best time to visit the Itria Valley wineries?

Between August and October, with September the busiest month: those three months bring nearly four in ten bookings. In September, at the height of the harvest, Masseria Torricella lets you join the grape picking before tasting 6 wines with food from the farm. Winter is no dead season, either: more than one booking in five falls between November and March. Many of these tastings can also be given as a gift: whoever receives the voucher picks the date.