Vigneti Reale

The family estate and the beginnings of viticulture

The Reale family has owned the estate for more than a century and through four generations. The agricultural property in Cellino San Marco initially centred on tobacco. The family first worked as growers under concession from the Monopoli di Stato and later processed tobacco from leaf to the finished material prepared for cigarettes.

The family's winegrowing tradition is dated to 1921. Don Vito Reale, the great-grandfather of the present generation, began converting family farmland to vines. The first grapes and wines were not marketed under a bottled family label: they were sold to third parties, either in bulk or for blending.

For decades, important customers included Tuscan and French merchants and producers. They used southern Italian wine to give their own wines additional body and alcoholic strength.

Post-war expansion of wine production

After the Second World War, the family began devoting greater attention to wine. The prevailing model still prioritised volume, with production intended largely for the bulk and blending markets rather than estate bottling.

During the closing decades of the twentieth century, the family's approach changed as it recognised the qualitative and commercial potential of Salento viticulture. This led to a gradual shift from quantity towards grape quality, site selection and independent bottling.

Estate bottling and the Vigneti Reale project

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the family started reserving a small, selected portion of its best production for bottling. Grapes and wines were chosen from preferred areas of the estate, while standards in both the vineyard and cellar were raised to place product quality ahead of volume.

In the early 2000s, brothers Amedeo and Damiano established the present Vigneti Reale project and added a commercial operation to the family's agricultural activity. Amedeo assumed responsibility for marketing and sales. Damiano, who studied agriculture in California, became technical director of the farm.

The resulting identity combines a contemporary, clean style with an explicit connection to Salento. Commercial production developed into ten wine labels divided among three groups, including two DOP cru wines and a Charmat-method sparkling wine, alongside an extra-virgin olive oil.

Continuity of the estate

Several parts of the modern identity preserve the family's agricultural and architectural history. The company emblem depicts the family villa, which has belonged to the Reale family since the beginning of the twentieth century and is surrounded by an Italian-style garden. Masseria Blasi, reached through a portal opening onto rows of Chardonnay and avenues of old olive trees, has served as a central part of the farm since the early 1900s.

The estate remains a mixed agricultural property of vineyards and olive groves. More recently planted olive trees include varieties selected for resistance to Xylella.

The vineyards are planted predominantly as espalier-trained rows, with density adjusted by variety and site from approximately 4,700 to 5,300 vines per hectare. This relatively high density is intended to reduce the crop carried by each individual vine. Typical yields fall between 8,000 and 10,000 kg per hectare, with some selected plantings producing 6,000–8,000 kg per hectare.

Rootstock selection is based on soil characteristics and compatibility with each vine. Low-vigour rootstocks restrain excessive canopy development in the fertile soils and help direct the plants towards grape quality.

Harvesting documented across the range is manual and includes grape selection. Picking dates vary by grape and intended style, extending from the first part of August into September. The earliest selected fruit is picked to preserve freshness and mineral character.

The agricultural property also includes olive groves. New olive plantings include Xylella-resistant material, while old olive trees remain integrated into the landscape around Masseria Blasi.

The cellar stands a few hundred metres from the agricultural estate, keeping grape transport from the vineyards short. Its principal technical emphasis is control of low temperatures throughout vinification, supported by modern equipment.

Documented white-wine practices include must clarification, inoculation with selected yeasts, controlled-temperature fermentation and temperature-regulated storage in stainless-steel tanks. Some wines are bottled cold at low temperature.

Rosé production includes soft pressing or short skin contact, followed by drawing off and low-temperature fermentation. Stainless steel is used for temperature-controlled conservation through bottling.

Red-wine production may involve destemming and crushing followed by 8–12 days of contact between skins and must, generally at 28–30°C. Stainless steel, large wooden vessels and French-oak barriques are all used, depending on the intended wine. The longer-aged DOP wines may mature for 6–12 months in French oak, with one documented programme followed by at least 6 months in bottle.

Sparkling production uses soft pressing, static settling of the must and fermentation of the free-run juice at 15–17°C with selected yeasts. The second fermentation follows the Charmat method in stainless-steel autoclaves for 30 days, with bâtonnage to encourage the transfer of compounds from the yeasts.