Jorche

In Torricella, in the heart of Primitivo di Manduria country, the Gianfreda family has been making wine since the early 1900s. It all starts with great-great-grandfather Giovanni and his palamientu, the oldest form of organised winery. The work then passes to great-grandfather Costantino and his son, grandfather Cosimo, who builds the first modern cellar. Father Antonio becomes the family's first oenologist. Today Antica Masseria Jorche has reached its fifth generation, and is led by two sisters.

An all-female winery. Dalila looks after sales, communication and export markets. Emanuela is the oenologist, responsible for the vineyard and winemaking. Two different roles and a single idea of wine: stay faithful to Puglia's tradition, but in a younger style built on elegance, balance and freshness. A deliberate choice in a region that often bets everything on power.

Native grapes only. Nothing enters the cellar but Primitivo, Negroamaro, Fiano and Bianco d'Alessano, for around 130,000 bottles a year. Jorche oversees the entire chain, from the fully manual harvest to bottling. The wines age in large casks, in barriques and in capasoni, the old Apulian terracotta amphorae.

The vineyards. The vines are spread across different sites: some flank the winery, others lie opposite it, others still are close to the sea, and there is also a bush-trained (alberello) vineyard at Sava.

The Masseria. From 1990 the family bought and restored a late-17th-century farmhouse. The old 18th-century underground olive mill now houses the restaurant, where guests find every Jorche wine and can enjoy them with their meals. Tours and tastings, on the other hand, take place in the winery, where visitors get a close look at the wines and the family's work.

Sustainability in practice. The estate is energy self-sufficient thanks to renewables, and farms the land with an eye on its impact on the area.

More than a century of Primitivo, read through a contemporary lens.