Resurrecting an Entire DOC in Puglia
Michele Boscia
Amalberga is one of Italy’s most exciting new projects and it’s coming out of Puglia; run by Dario de Pascale, who manages the vineyards, and his partner Gloria Battista, who makes the wine. They mostly use native Puglian varieties (including some we had never heard of before!) and the winemaking is precise and thoughtful. Dario’s grandfather also made wine in Puglia and, in 2017, the first vintage of Amalberga was produced from his old vines planted to Minutolo and Ottavianello.
Over the next few years, Amalberga built a new winery and began restoring more ancient vineyards around Ostuni planted to Verdeca, Negroamaro, and Primitivo, all with the goal of reviving the 50+ year old Ostuni DOC region. Despite its establishment in 1972, this tiny appellation of just five total hectares suffered a series of setbacks after its foundation, from which it is only now starting to recover. Amalberga’s revival of the DOC’s key variety—Ottavianello—was the first step towards recovering one of Puglia’s best kept secrets.
Since its inception, Amalberga has moved to re-establish Ostuni’s legacy using good agricultural practices including the repurposing of natural rain water, regenerative farming, and conservation efforts in the vineyard. The wines have an intense purity and concentration to them as a result. Simply put, these are our kinds of wines and this is our kind of place. The winery itself is a beautiful building surrounded by lush vineyards planted to local grape varieties, serving delicious food as well at their onsite restaurant with Dario’s mother as the chef. It’s a veritable gastronomic heaven. We highly recommend visiting if you find yourself in Puglia, but in the meantime you can be transported there by the wines, a close second.