Cantine Paolo Leo’s project to safeguard alberello vineyards

Salento’s rural landscape, lying between the Adriatic and Ionian seas, has long been marked by vineyards, olive groves and traditional alberello vines. The alberello canopy uses its leaves to shade and cool the ground, but the system has become increasingly uncommon.

Economics are a principal cause of its decline. Alberello vineyards yield approximately 3–3.5 tonnes of grapes per hectare, whereas espalier systems produce at least 6 tonnes per hectare. Many growers have consequently removed old vines and replaced them with higher-producing plantings.

The loss has cultural and ecological consequences. Old traditional vineyards preserve Primitivo and Negroamaro biotypes unavailable from commercial nurseries. Their bunch and berry characteristics are distinctive, as are the flavour and colour they can contribute to wine.

At Masseria Carritelli, Paolo Leo’s project combined the protection of these old plants with the recovery of the ancient rural property for wine tourism. Public participation was intended to provide direct experience of the detailed work behind vine cultivation and wine production. The project also evoked the masseria’s domestic agricultural culture: the large hearth, women engaged in embroidery or weaving, and the household’s men arranging the following day’s fieldwork.