San Marzano-Timo-Salento-Vermentino-Puglia

Producer: In 1962 nineteen vine growers from San Marzano, combined their efforts to establish “Cantine San Marzano”. Over the years the cooperative has grown significantly and is now composed of over 1200 vine growers.

They are now one of the most professional, forward-thinking companies in Southern Italy, with a reputation for producing great wines. Their production philosophy is simple but uncompromising; “passion” and “competence” are the bywords at the heart of their everyday activity.

Vineyard: The vines are grown in Brindisi, Salento in Puglia at an elevation of approximately 100 metres above sea-level. The warm climate is tempered by the proximity to the sea and the influence of the strong sea breezes. The wine takes its name ‘Timo’ from the thyme bushes that grow along the rocky shoreline of the Ionian Sea, whose scent fills the air with herbal fragrance of the Mediterranean garrigue known locally as maquis.

The vines are planted at a density of 5,000 vines per hectare and are double Guyot trained, which encourages the best expression of the Vermentino variety as the leaves protect the grapes from the high temperatures, allowing them to retain balancing acidity. An integrated protection system has been implemented which monitors the atmospheric conditions and uses targeted copper and sulphur treatments. The vines are grown in shallow, medium textured sandy soils, with soil management techniques of cover crops and green manure being used.