Storia
The old masseria and its vines
Masseria Carritelli is an old rural estate in Salento, surrounded by a landscape of vineyards and olive groves. Its surviving old vines retain traces of the work carried out by earlier generations. Traditional alberello-trained vineyards form the core of its viticultural identity.
2013 — Acquisition and wildlife protection
Cantine Paolo Leo Srl acquired the Masseria Carritelli estate in 2013. The acquisition brought the old farmstead and its alberello vines into the company’s agricultural holdings.
On 3 May 2013, a pair of white storks was nesting on an electricity pylon within the estate. Paolo Leo committed to safeguarding the birds and protecting their nesting cycle.
2017 — The alberello-conservation project
By June 2017, Masseria Carritelli was at the centre of a project to prevent the disappearance of traditional alberello vineyards. The initiative addressed the economic pressure behind their decline: alberello vines yield approximately 3–3.5 tonnes of grapes per hectare, while replacement espalier vineyards produce at least 6 tonnes per hectare.
The conservation programme sought to protect old vines and the distinctive Primitivo and Negroamaro biotypes preserved within traditional vineyards. These biotypes are unavailable from commercial nurseries and differ in bunch and berry characteristics as well as in the flavour and colour they can transmit to wine.
Paolo Leo coupled the viticultural project with plans to recover the old masseria for wine tourism. Public participation was intended to make visitors directly acquainted with the careful work required to cultivate a vine and produce wine, while reconnecting the property with the domestic and agricultural culture of earlier generations.
Terroir
Masseria Carritelli stands in Salento, the southern part of Italy’s peninsula between the Adriatic and Ionian seas. Its rural setting is characterised by vineyards and olive groves under warm sunlight.
The traditional alberello canopy performs a practical function in this environment: its leaves shade and cool the soil beneath the vine. The estate’s old vineyards preserve locally adapted Primitivo and Negroamaro biotypes distinguished by their bunch and berry characteristics and by the flavour and colour they impart to wine.
Vinificazione
The central viticultural commitment at Masseria Carritelli is the conservation of old alberello-trained vines. These low-yielding vineyards produce approximately 3–3.5 tonnes per hectare. Their lower productivity has placed them under pressure from higher-yielding espalier systems, which produce at least 6 tonnes per hectare.
Conservation has both genetic and cultural dimensions. Old traditional vineyards preserve Primitivo and Negroamaro biotypes that cannot be purchased from nurseries. Their distinctive bunches and berries contribute particular flavour and colour characteristics, while the surviving plants embody the work of previous generations. The alberello canopy also shades the soil with its leaves during growth.
Filosofia
Paolo Leo regards the preservation of alberello vineyards as a necessary condition for quality. The project treats their removal as both a cultural and ecological loss because it eliminates old vines, locally distinctive plant material and evidence of earlier generations’ work.
Masseria Carritelli’s recovery joins three objectives: protecting old vines, preserving the historic rural setting and opening the work of viticulture to direct public experience. The intention is for visitors to encounter the careful, detailed labour required to bring a wine into being, rather than experiencing the property only as a finished hospitality venue.