Castel di Salve

Castel di Salve is proudly one of the historical wine producers in Puglia, having been founded in 1885 by Antonio Winspeare, Duke of Salve, to produce fine table wines and aged bottled wines from the grapes farmed in the estates of Salve, Supersano and Depressa. At its founding, the winery was the first to age and bottle its wines in Salento, under the guidance of Bordeaux winemaker Simon Murat. Its wines commended awards in competitions and expos in London (1888), Chicago (1894), Asti (1898), Paris and Naples (1900).

To this day, Castel di Salve has been working on the same land striving to express it into wines of character and elegance. The estate follows all of the production processes in the winery built by their ancestors in 1879: from the destemming of the grapes, the different fermentations, the refining and aging in oak barrels in the underground cellars excavated from limestone.

During the last 3 decades, we have modernized the building with respect for the past architecture, to fully control the hygiene of the environment where our wines evolve. To Castel di Salve, cleanliness and controlled temperatures are key to obtaining stable wines without invasive methods. Stainless steel and concrete tanks are temperature-controlled through a system powered by solar panels covering around 92% of our winery’s energy consumption for over 10 years.

Castel di Salve takes great care of 19 hectares of vineyards with only local varieties, surrounded by olives, woods, oaks, cereals and Mediterranean bush. Its sandy-clayish soil has long been known for the finesse and elegance of the wines here derived.

The estate focuses on indigenous varieties of Salento – Verdeca, Negroamaro, Malvasia Nera di Lecce, and Primitivo – together with other southern Italian ones, which they farm to medium-low yields using only natural fertilizers. To nurture the soil, Castel di Salve consistently generates green manure (‘sovescio’) by planting oats, rye, or letting other natural “weeds” grow with the vines, promoting the natural nutritional balance of the plants.