Summary
Masseria Borgo dei Trulli is one of the younger but most ambitious estates in Salento. Around a restored masseria from the late 18th century in Località Roselle near Maruggio, oenologist Alessandro Michelon has built an operation that brings historic bush vines and a state-of-the-art cellar together. Across roughly 55 hectares of vines – spread over Maruggio, Sava, Manduria and Guagnano – the focus lies on Primitivo and Negroamaro, joined by Fiano, Vermentino, Malvasia and Sauvignon Blanc. The wines are typically Apulian in their density, yet noticeably fresher and more precisely made than the region's reputation would suggest.
History
Unlike many Apulian addresses, Borgo dei Trulli does not look back on centuries of family tradition – but it does sit inside a centuries-old building. The masseria itself dates from the late 18th century and originally housed farm labourers and livestock. For decades it fell into disrepair, until it was acquired around 2017 and turned into a winery.
Behind the project stands oenologist Alessandro Michelon, who saw the oenological potential Salento holds beyond the bulk-wine trade. The rebuild deliberately followed the original fabric: the walls of local tuff stone, the arches and the characteristic star vaults were preserved and restored. Right next to them a new, technically well-equipped cellar with temperature-controlled fermentation was built. Within a handful of vintages the estate found its way into international tastings and export markets.
Location & Terroir
The estate lies deep in Salento, the heel of the Italian boot, a few kilometres inland from the Ionian Sea. The climate is emphatically Mediterranean: plenty of sun, low rainfall and long, hot summers, tempered by steady sea breezes and cool nights. It is precisely this day-to-night temperature swing that keeps the aromatics of the wines alive.
The vineyards are spread across several sites with clearly distinct soils:
- Roselle – the parcels around the cellar on red, sandy-limestone soil with a high iron-oxide content, some twelve hectares
- Pasano – a sheltered plateau with soils richer in humus and a slightly milder mesoclimate
- Guagnano in the Salice Salentino area – around 35 kilometres away, on dark, clayey and humus-rich soils
- Monaco Mirante – vines right by the coast, only about a hundred metres from the beach
A defining feature is alberello training: roughly 16 hectares of the vineyard are traditional bush vines without trellising, planted closely together and in part dating from the 1950s. The dense canopy shades the bunches and protects them from sunburn and water stress – an advantage that matters more with every hot vintage. Tending and picking here can only be done by hand.
Style & Philosophy
About four fifths of production is red wine, predominantly Primitivo and Negroamaro. Stylistically the estate looks for balance: the fullness typical of Salento, ripe dark fruit and soft tannins – but without the heavy, overripe notes that mark many of the region's volume wines. Oak is used sparingly and serves structure rather than flavour.
For the whites the estate picks early and ferments cool, drawing wines with drive and a saline edge from Fiano, Vermentino and Malvasia Bianca. The range is rounded out by a Primitivo rosato, an organically farmed Spumante Brut and a sweet Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale. Viticulture follows organic principles; biodiversity between the rows and careful use of water are part of the concept – no small matter in the heat of Salento.
Notable Vineyards & Wines
The range is compact and built around the two leading red varieties:
- Mirea Primitivo di Manduria DOP – the estate's most ambitious red, dense and long-lived
- Saracena Primitivo Salento IGP – the wine whose name points to the Saracen trulli nearby
- Primitivo di Manduria DOP – the classic expression from the heartland of the appellation
- Salice Salentino DOC Riserva – from the parcels in Guagnano, Negroamaro with Malvasia Nera
- Negroamaro Salento IGP and a Primitivo rosato
- Signor P Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale DOCG – the house's sweet speciality
The estate also produces a gin under the name Duna Mirante, a nod to the coastal parcel of the same name.
Awards
For an estate this young the ratings so far are remarkable. The Mirea Primitivo di Manduria was awarded Tre Bicchieri by Gambero Rosso, and Falstaff rated the 2023 Saracena Primitivo Salento IGP at 90 points. Other wines from the house have collected medals at international competitions such as Mundus Vini. That places Borgo dei Trulli among the producers shifting Salento's reputation from a supplier of powerful everyday wines towards an origin with a profile of its own.