I had no plans to visit Borgo Turrito. In truth, I did not know it existed. In the normal course of my travels, I would never have encountered a wonderful small winery in an even smaller town in southern Italy.

I had left Campomarino de Maruggio on the Ioanian coast the prior morning. The days itinerary was to drive over the southern Appennines enroute to Foggia. Along the way, I had found a winery on google maps called Caiaffa located about an hour south of Foggia. Tried to call to request a tour, but was unable to get through. Arrived about 1:00 in the afternoon and was told I had arrived too late for a tour that day. They kindly referred another winery very close to Foggia and called them to help arrange a tour. In the end, they did offer a brief tour of the winery, but no tastings.

Received whatsapp message from Pasquale at Borgo Turrito confirming a tour and tasting and headed out on schedule the next morning. First you enter the small town of Borgo Incoranata (pop. 600) and drive past the first of the two churches (both Catholic). The towns claim to fame and founding occurred when Mary appeared to two men hunting in the woods and told them to build a church here. That was 1400 years ago.

400 meters from the edge of town is the entrance to Borgo Turrito.

Before reaching the door, Pasquale was already greeting and welcoming me to the winery.

As we chatted, he told me (in perfect English) the history of the winery. The family run winery had been the “village winery” for more than 100 years with winemaking passed from father to son until 2006 when Luca (the current son) decided he wished to expand. With this, they began making wine for sale in the general market and not only for the village. Along the way, Pasquale introduced Luca (a man of few words who is actively involved in all aspects of the operation).

Then it was on to the vineyards and the winemaking operations. A recent rain or watering left the fields too muddy to traverse. Then the destemming, crushing, pressing and maceration equipment (all of which is outdoors here, but under roof).

(Note: Need to add more details and pictures in this section.)

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