Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Murge plateau is bounded by two tectonic discontinuities, one to the northwest toward the Tavoliere delle Puglie and the other to the southwest toward the Bradanic foredeep, with maximum elevations of 680 m and 686 m above sea level in the northwestern portion.
• The geological framework of the Murge plateau consists of well-stratified dolomitic limestones and dolostones, with thicknesses ranging from a few centimetres — known locally as chiancarelle — to a few metres.
• The lithology of the area is composed of the compact limestones of the general unit of the Cretaceous limestone of Bari and Altamura, with Holocene alluvial deposits in the interior zones and Plio-Pleistocene deposits along the southwestern escarpment.
• The most widespread soil type in the area is of modest depth with high stoniness and rockiness, which in extreme cases may render the land unsuitable for cultivation.

• The ancient vine-training systems of alberello and Guyot were traditionally adopted in the Castel del Monte area as a natural fit with viticulture in a warm, arid environment.
• The considerable depth of the water table in the karstic Murge plateau and the high cost of water extraction have limited the use of irrigation and the adoption of expansive vine-training systems.
• New vertical trellis (controspalliera) plantings are established mainly at a density of 4,348 vines per hectare, with a planting grid of 2.30 m by 1.0 m.
• Most vineyards are trained using short-pruning systems that are readily mechanisable, such as spur-trained cordon, or with mixed pruning involving a return to Guyot.
• The area's millennia-long winemaking tradition is attested by historical documents held in monastic archives and libraries, and by works of art dating to the Magna Graecia period preserved in the Museo Jatta.

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-A0538
• Official trade body site — Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Castel del Monte