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“A rare jewel of a rosé.”

By Do Bianchi

“This is a terrific food wine, perhaps the most food-friendly rosé I’ve tasted in a year,” writes top U.S. wine blogger Meg Houston Maker.

“It has enough heft to stand up to grilled foods but enough freshness to pair with salads, cold seafood, and young cheeses. Plus, it looks beautiful on the summer table. A rare jewel of a rosé.”

We’re always thrilled to see Cantele wines in the media. But it was a special treat for us to read her impressions: She’s a leading U.S. wine educator and blogger and her writing (including her contributions to Palate Press) stand apart in our view as some of the best and most informed wine writing in America today (her background is in creative writing).

You can call her a “wine writer.” But we call her a damn good writer who just happens to write about wine…

Click here for her post.

Image via Meg Houston Maker’s Facebook.
The Cantele Story

By Do Bianchi

The founder of the Cantele winery, Giovanni Battista Cantele — grandfather to the current generation — was born in 1907 in Pramaggiore (in the Province of Venice). During the Second World War, he moved to Imola (Province of Bologna) where he met and married the beautiful Teresa Manara. The couple had two sons, Augusto and Domenico.

After the war, Gianni — as he was known — made a career for himself in the wine trade. Like many in his generation, he found steady work as a broker of bulk wine that he would purchase in Puglia and then sell in Northern Italy. At the time, winemakers in northern Italy had difficulties in achieving the desired alcohol content and body in their wines — in part because of the climatic conditions and in part because of the available winemaking technology. It was not uncommon to ship wine from Puglia (where grape growers had no problems in obtaining fruit with sufficient sugar levels) to blend into the wines of the north. Expanding prosperity and a population explosion in the north had led to growing demand for quality wine.
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“Best value.” Wine Spectator on Cantele Salice Salentino…

By Do Bianchi

Here’s what Wine Spectator Italian editor Alison Napjus has to say about the Cantele Salice Salentino, a wine she has included in her “best value” round ups.

Cantele Salice Salentino
89 points
BEST VALUE

Juicy flavors of ripe wild strawberry and red licorice mark the start to this light-to medium-bodied red, with supple tannins lending some structure and weight. Savory accents of garrigue, loamy earth and star anise echo on the finish.

The wine has also been included by Wine Spectator senior editor Tim Fish in his Memorial Day recommendations for summer grilling.

Click here for his blog post.
Paolo and Gianni featured in Food & Wine magazine

By Do Bianchi

From the archives, Food & Wine magazine’s feature story on the Cantele family and its winery (2014).

“For decades,” writes Ray Isle, Food & Wine executive wine editor and one of the most popular writers in the U.S. today, “most Pugliese wine was sold in bulk to northern Italy.”

“‘I remember my grandfather working all day to send wine out of Puglia — these huge trucks taking wine up to make vermouth,” says Giuseppe Cupertino, sommelier for Due Camini at the Borgo Egnazia resort, one of the region’s top restaurants. ‘They’d come to my hometown in November, truck after truck after truck — even late at night. I’d see their lights driving away.'”

“Augusto Cantele was one of the first local winemakers to try to change that situation, and he worked for decades to raise people’s awareness of Puglia’s extraordinary potential. Now his sons, Paolo and Gianni, are running the Cantele Winery with the same ambition.”

Click here to read a complete version of the article.
Gianni Cantele ends his mandate as Coldiretti Puglia president

By Do Bianchi

Above: Gianni (center) with Coldiretti colleagues at a rally protesting counterfeit Italian food products.

This week, Gianni Cantele stepped down as president of Coldiretti Puglia, the regional office of the Italian confederation of food growers.

“Today was last day as president of Coldiretti Puglia,” wrote Gianni on his Facebook. “It’s been nearly six years and an extraordinary experience that gave me the chance to have a 360° look at our region’s agriculture. I’ve learned about our region’s excellence and our still untapped potential. And I’ve even come to understand some of our contradictions, issues we need to work to solve with earnestness and honesty. I also had the privilege of being able to count on the support of our many Coldiretti partners. And thanks to their efforts, we ‘occupied’ piazzas and roads in Puglia with our rallies and events. Our focus has been the promotion and safeguarding of our identity and the value of our products. And we’ve tried to ‘contaminate’ Pugliese society with equity and respect for our land.”

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with some big-hearted people. And they are owed much more than this quick thanks. I’m not leaving the team, though. I’ll be serving as president of the Lecce Federation as we face the dramatic situation caused by Xylella fastidiosa. It’s going to be an equally challenging task but I owe it to my land.”
Cantele Salice Salentino wins Slow Wine award for “daily wine”

By Do Bianchi

It’s always been our mission to create high-quality, value-driven wines. Our top wines are always a source of great reward for us. But we are also extremely proud of our wines that deliver quality at a great price. And we were thrilled to be awarded the “Daily Wine” award by the editors of the prestigious Slow Wine guide to the wines of Italy.
95 points for Teresa Manara Chardonnay from Daniele Cernilli and Doctor Wine!

By Do Bianchi

We were thrilled to receive news that the Cantele 2016 Late Harvest Chardonnay Teresa Manara was awarded 95/100 points by Daniele Cernilli, one of the world’s great Italian wine experts and critics, founder and longtime editor of the Gambero Rosso guide to Italian wines and now editor of an immensely popular online wine portal, Doctor Wine.

The score will be officially presented in October of this year when he presents Doctor Wine’s new guide to the wines of Italy.
Varius, a new blend: Susumaniello and Negroamaro

By Paolo

After a two-year hiatus, we are celebrating the return of Varius, a wine that represents an on-going “experiment” in the Cantele portfolio. As its name reveals, it is a “variation” of traditional Pugliese blends. We had taken a break from this label because it was time. Starting in 1999, the blend has included Negroamaro, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Montepulciano. In one of the last blends, Merlot took the place of Montepulciano. And the final “variation” was a wine made solely from Merlot grapes.

In this new version from the 2016 vintage, Varius is a blend of Negroamaro, the king of Pugliese grapes, and Susumaniello, a variety that originated in the Balkans. Its name comes from the fact that it was once considered a workhorse grape, a somarello or donkey in Italian, thanks to the density of the grape bunches as they ripen. Today, of course, growers keep the yields low but the name has stuck. It’s been a few years that we have been thinking about working with this historic Salento grape variety from, which has been only recently revived by winemakers here. It has a very small berry, with a high concentration of polyphenols and anthocyanins. Rich in color and low in acidity, it’s the ideal partner for Negroamaro (with its lighter color and higher level of acidity). The result is a fresh and youthful wine, aged in stainless steel, with good structure and approachability.

Continue reading Varius, a new blend: Susumaniello and Negroamaro
The colors of elegance

By Paolo

18 MARZO 2018 – 20 MARZO 2018

Ogni anno, come da tradizione nel mese di marzo, Düsseldorf si trasforma nella capitale del vino, con numeri da capogiro. Ormai più che mai consolidata la presenza di espositori italiani, Prowein si presenta come un salone internazionale altamente specializzato in cui si concentrano le migliori produzioni di tutto il mondo. Un momento di grande utilità per i visitatori che vogliono ampliare le conoscenze sul vino, sulla sua cultura e sui territori di provenienza.
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Rohesia: rosè without compromise

By Paolo

The first vintage of Rohesia has been such a thrill for us. And now, this new rosé — vinified from the same grapes used for our flagship wine, Teresa Manara Negroamaro — is in its second vintage. But it’s already become a wine that stands out from the crowd.

The second incarnation has been even more positively received than the previous. It’s thanks to this wine’s strong identity and the fact that it doesn’t compromise on any level: It’s a wine whose integrity has never been shaped by fleeting trends of the marketplace.

The 2014 harvest was challenging. Because of summer rains that affected all of Italy, the weather conditions delivered a wine whose color is less intense than in the previous vintage. Vinification of a rosé wine always requires a technical approach that takes into account the variables of any given vintage. Maceration of the grape must before fermentation takes place at a low temperature. It continues until the desired color is achieved. In the case of Rohesia, this generally takes up to 24 hours. But the process is also closely linked to the desired tannic balance. As a result, the amount of time in which the must is left in contact with the skins varies from vintage to vintage as does the final color of the wine.

Continue reading Rohesia: rosè without compromise