Summary
Masca del Tacco is a wine estate in Erchie in the northern Salento, in the far south of Puglia. Its roots go back to the village cooperative cellar founded in 1949; in 2010 the Mergè winemaking family – known for Poggio Le Volpi in Lazio – took over the property, restored it completely and gave it its current name. On around 50 hectares of estate-owned vineyards, supplemented by leased plots, it produces powerful, sun-ripened reds from Primitivo, Negroamaro and Susumaniello, plus a white from Fiano. The flagship is Piano Chiuso, a Primitivo di Manduria Riserva from bush vines over 70 years old, which received Gambero Rosso’s Tre Bicchieri in 2023.
History
The story of the estate begins in 1949, when the Cantina di Erchie was established in the village – a cooperative cellar founded on the initiative of the Laviano family, the local barons who are also credited with Erchie’s Palazzo Ducale. For decades the cellar was the meeting point for the village’s growers, as was typical of many communities in Puglia.
The turning point came in 2010, when Armando and Felice Mergè bought the old cooperative cellar. Felice Mergè, an oenologist, had already founded the Poggio Le Volpi estate in Lazio in 1996 and turned it into one of the well-known names of the area around Frascati. In Erchie the family had the facility completely restored and modernised, christened it Masca del Tacco and dedicated it entirely to Puglia’s native varieties – above all Primitivo.
Today Masca del Tacco is part of the family group I Viticoltori, under which the Mergès run Poggio Le Volpi in Lazio and Masca del Tacco in Puglia. According to the group, it farms more than 600 hectares across both regions in total. The Puglian house nonetheless keeps its own profile: a winery you can visit in Erchie, its own vineyards and a range tailored clearly to the Salento.
Location & Terroir
Erchie lies in the province of Brindisi, in the central-northern part of the Salento peninsula and not far from the Ionian Sea. The landscape is flat to gently rolling, the climate Mediterranean with very warm summers, mild winters and steady sea breezes that keep the vines dry and healthy. The soils are medium-textured, clayey and rich in limestone, in parts of the vineyards also reddish and iron-rich – a terroir that gives the wines richness together with a pleasant mineral note.
Masca del Tacco’s vineyards are spread across several sites in the northern Salento. Alongside the vineyards around Erchie, these include plots in the Primitivo di Manduria growing area in the province of Taranto, where the Primitivo comes from old vines. A large share of the vines is grown in the traditional alberello system (free-standing bush vines), younger plantings as cordon or espalier. Harvesting is done by hand.
Style & Philosophy
Masca del Tacco sees itself as a bridge between tradition and modern cellar technology. The Mergè family relies on the native varieties of the Salento and wants to express their origin as clearly as possible: Primitivo as Puglia’s emblematic grape, Negroamaro as the Salento classic and the rediscovered Susumaniello as an aromatic character grape. In the cellar the grapes are handled gently; Riserva wines mature in wood and gain additional depth as a result.
Stylistically the wines are typically southern Italian: dark fruit, ripeness, warmth and soft tannins, complemented in the top wines by spice, chocolate and the concentration of old vines. At the same time the house values freshness and drinkability – the wines are meant to show the Salento without becoming heavy. A Fiano white rounds off the range.
Notable Sites & Wines
The house’s best-known wine is the Piano Chiuso Primitivo di Manduria Riserva (also labelled ‘Piano Chiuso 26 27 63’ after the parcel numbers). It comes from a small vineyard enclosed by a dry-stone wall in the Manduria area, planted with bush vines over 70 years old – a ‘closed vineyard’ whose idea recalls the walled gardens of the Cistercian monks. The wine is regarded as the maximum expression of what the terroir can give.
Other important wines:
- Lu Rappaio – Primitivo di Manduria DOC, the house’s approachable classic
- Li Filitti – Primitivo di Manduria Riserva from bush vines on iron- and limestone-rich soils
- Lu Ceppu – Negroamaro from the Salento
- Susumaniello – varietal red from the rare Puglian grape
- L’Uetta – dry white from Fiano
These are joined by an old-vine Primitivo and further Salento IGP wines.
Awards
Masca del Tacco’s greatest success came with the Piano Chiuso Riserva 2019, which was awarded the Tre Bicchieri in the Gambero Rosso Vini d’Italia 2023 guide – the guide’s highest accolade. The Italian critic Luca Maroni regularly rates the house’s wines at 97 to 99 points, including the Piano Chiuso, the Li Filitti Riserva and the Lu Rappaio. Add to this gold medals at international competitions such as the Berliner Wine Trophy. The young house from Erchie thus ranks today among the noteworthy Primitivo producers of the Salento.
