General Hellam's News

Puglia 2013

Our pool Happy hour! The property In front of an old Roman highway Beautiful grounds at Masseria Deserto, where we're staying Pizze!!! The great room at the property; breakfast and dinner here! Monument at the end of the Appian Highway Looking out to the Adriatic Sea; termination point of the Appian Way Antipasto Great tasting at Tenute Rubino winery Tenute Rubino's processing area Erin and Rich! Tenute Rubino tasting room Mother/daughter, aren't they cute! The trulli (cone shaped buildings) in Alberbello World class lunch at Casa Nova in Alberbello Chocolate cutting board, wonderful! Wine & roses... fantastico! Fresh, amazingly wonderful cherries at the market Olive oil tasting... fabulous The cones of the trulliGreetings from Puglia!

It's been an excellent tour in this wonderful part of Italy, home to big, rich Primitivo red wine and subtle, aromatic whites.  This is the 'bread basket' of Italy, grain too, and 50% of the olive oil production comes from Puglia.  This region is divided into 5 provinces; we're staying in the Brindisi sub-region, in the town of San Vito at a property that is several hundred years old, in the country surrounded by 1,000 year old olive trees (some of the 0ldest in all of Italy), farms, rolling hills and stunning beauty.  Brindisi is rich in traditions, customs, folk feasts and the termination point of the Roman Appian Way (which we visited yesterday), giving way to the Adriatic Sea.  This area was inhabited by the ancient Messapians; in the past it was known for the center point of trade with India to the rest of Europe, and has a strong Greek influence in the food, culture, wine, farming and more.  Latin culture influenced the life and art in Brindisi; Virgil helped shaped the art of today in 19 BC, lived and died here.  Under Frederick II's reign, a period of glory started helping to build a fortress with a mint inside, with a government focused on helping the population thrive with free trade.

Today we visited the town of Alberobello, a historic town (Period Trullo) with curious cone shaped buildings made of stone called 'trulli'.  These Apulian stone dwellings are mysterious; nobody really knows why they were built, and the trullo is so ancient that similar constructions have only been found in Turkey, and in the village of Harran.  They were also mentioned in the Genesis.  After a delicious, multi-course lunch at Casa Nova in Alberbello, we set off for an olive oil tasting at a property that has a wonderful tasting room and production facility.  Winning numerous awards, this family run operation glows with pride, and it was interesting to hear the daughter of the father who owns the property describe the aromas and flavors of the various types of olive oil.  The family also produces various fresh and dried pasta, infused olive oil (the rosemary and various citrus ones were amazing), spreads, wines and other artisan delicacies.

Fortunately for this group, we have a French-trained chef who is preparing dinner at the property.  After visiting the fish market this morning, he picked up mussels, fresh fish and other delights so we're really looking forward to some good local food and wine from Chef Michael!

Enjoy a few photos and check back for another update soon!  Ciao e grazie from sunny, warm Puglia!