Felline | Racemi

When Gregory Perrucci is mentioned that he is celebrated by the international press as the "Saviour of the Primitivo", he just smiles and replies: "Oh, that was a long time ago, we are now pursuing completely different ideas! And there's no shortage of ideas. Maybe because the creative guy actually wanted to become a pianist. But after the conservatory, he and his siblings were to take over his father's huge business. Because father Costantino Perrucci was one of the biggest cask wine producers in Apulia, who blended wines from different producers in the 1970s and 80s and delivered them to large wineries or to the famous vermouth producer Martini & Rossi.

However, Gregory did not find this type of business forward-looking, so in 1994 he bought his first 9 hectares and a vineyard named after the archaeological site near his home town of Manduria: Felline. Already with the first two vintages, of which there were only 6,000 bottles, he achieved quite a reputation with his Primitivo. From the very beginning, his vision was to focus on autochthonous grape varieties in a classic tree-like upbringing. Economically quite risky, because these "Albarello" vines, as they are called here, can only be cultivated manually in a complicated way, which is why many of these older vineyards were no longer cultivated and were available at low prices. Thus, the Felline winery was able to grow rapidly.

This inspired some young winemakers in the area, so in 1996 Gregory Perrucci and his wife Elisabetta decided to found the "Accademia dei Racemi". At first simply as an exchange of ideas between the winegrowers. This resulted in a unique strategy that made all of them successful together, as the small businesses could afford to call in agronomists and geologists for advice and to adapt the grape varieties specifically to the soil and location.

This is because this region of Puglia has various soils of sand, loam, tuff or clay, all of which are, however, only a relatively thin layer on a limestone rock. The Masseria Pepe, Primitivo on warm sandy soils near the sea, Sinfarosa with black soil, the Tenuta Pozzopalo with soils of tuff and dark soil, Torre Guaceto, where the almost extinct grape varieties Ottavianello and Susumaniello are replanted, and Casale Bevagna in Guagnano, where the reddish-brown soils typical of Puglia predominate.

The wines of the individual estates are vinified separately, the vineyards are mostly managed in a natural/organic way and the emphasis is placed on autochthonous grape varieties. In addition to the red grape varieties Primitivo di Manduria, Negroamaro, Malvasia Nera, Ottavianello and Susumaniello, white wine varieties such as Verdeca, Vermentino and Fiano have also become highly successful.

Gregory Perrucci discovered with Robert Cipresso at the end of the nineties the almost disappeared grape variety Fiano Minutolo in the hills of Martina Franca, where the Verdeca also comes from. Presumably both were grown there at that time for the production of vermouth. However, Fiano Minutolo is not related to the Fiano known from Campania, but to Moscato. The result is now a white wine, which consists of 70% Fiano Camano and 30% Fiano Minutolo - and has become the new hit. Because, as I said, Gregory Perrucci and his partner in the Accademia, Salvatore Mero, never run out of ideas. And while they are still chatting and tasting with Salvatore, Gregory is already playing his piano again. Or he disappears to the nearby sea and "picks" sea urchins and mussels for dinner.  SUPERIORE.DE

"Accedemia dei Racemi is not an academy, but rather the fruit of an idea of Gregorio Perrucci. The son of a great producer of blended wine, Gregorio founded Pervini with his siblings in 1993. The aim was to select and bottle the most interesting wines from his father's stock. But after a short time the three of them realized that pure bottling without their own grapes was unsatisfactory. In 1994 the Felline estate was bought with nine hectares and for the first time it was possible to produce wine from own grapes. Gregorio was so enthusiastic about the results that he was able to win over a number of winemakers for his project 'Accedemia dei Racemi', which develops the wines of the individual estates separately and pays particular attention to producing well-tended grapes. The likeable thoroughbred entrepreneur and pianist - his grand piano stands next to his desk - has made a decisive contribution to paving the way for the Primitivo to go abroad with his commitment".  Merum

"Gregory Perrucci created here a kind of rescue company for small traditional wineries that were threatened with extinction: the Masseria Pepe, whose Primitivo vines grow on sandy soils near the sea, the Sinfarosa estate with black, deep soil, the Tenuta Pozzopalo on a wind-blown hill of tuff and dark soil, Torre Guaceto, where Ottovianello and Susumaniello vines found a new home, and Casale Bevagna with red soils of medium density in the municipality of Guagnano." Gambero Rosso 2010