Alezio

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The bedrock of the area consists of a succession of limestone, dolomitic limestone, and dolomite layers and beds, more than 6,000 metres thick, deposited on the sea floor during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
• The soils found in the area are typical of the 'red earths' (Alfisols), generally shallow with a lithic contact within 50 cm of the surface (Lithic Rhodoxeralfs) or moderately to very deep (Typic Rhodoxeralfs).
• Calcium carbonate is often absent, as the red earths are a product of decalcification, and cation exchange capacity is medium to high with low to barely moderate fertility.
• The texture of the upper horizon is clay loam with fine to very fine subangular blocky structure, abundant very small pores, dark red colour, and intense biological activity.
• Viticulture is most successfully practised in areas where the soil is sufficiently deep to offset water unavailability and summer drought.
• The climate of the zone falls partly under the influence of a temperate-cool climate and partly under a Mediterranean climate, with marked temperature ranges, hot summers, and mild winters.
• Mean annual rainfall varies with altitude from 400 mm to 1,200 mm, with approximately 65% concentrated in the autumn–winter period, displaying typically Mediterranean characteristics.

• The provincial divisions encompassing the area were established by the Swabian emperor through the promulgation of the Liber Augustalis in 1231 and remained in force until 1860.
• Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, approximately two million salme of wine and one and a half million cantare of oil departed from the ports of Otranto, Gallipoli, and Brindisi bound for London, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, and Barcelona.
• Aglianico, Aleatico, Fiano, Verdeca, Greco, Primitivo, and Negroamaro are the most renowned grape varieties of the area, alongside numerous other red and white varieties often known only by local names.
• The earliest detailed, scientifically organised accounts of wine production in Alezio date back to the Statistical Survey of the Kingdom of Naples commissioned by Joachim Murat in 1811.
• In the mid-nineteenth century, modern grape-pressing and winemaking facilities were established near the railway to facilitate commercial trade.

• The production specification states that all wines display balanced physicochemical characteristics across all wine types produced within the appellation.
• On the palate and nose, the wines show predominant aromas typical of the grape varieties used.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0541