San Severo

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The soils in the zone tend toward clay and, in some areas, clay-silt, with little visible skeletal material, adequately supplied with mineral elements, and capable of retaining a good level of moisture.
• The pedology features soils derived from the dissolution of rocks that emerged from the sea, characterised by high potassium content and relatively low organic matter.
• The altitude of the vine-growing areas ranges from 60 to 250 metres above sea level, with an altitudinal range of 190 metres and a predominantly flat aspect.
• The climate is hot and arid, with highly variable rainfall of between 400 mm and 650 mm depending on the vintage, approximately 70% of which is concentrated in the autumn–winter period.
• The long-term average temperature pattern is characterised by high temperatures that rarely exceed 30–35 °C and seldom fall below 0 °C, while during the summer period minimum temperatures rarely drop below 18 °C and summers with no rainfall whatsoever are not uncommon.

• In 1230 the Emperor Frederick II entrusted San Severo to the Knights Templar, who upon their return from the Holy Land are said to have introduced the Bombino bianco variety, the backbone of the appellation.
• In the vicinity of San Severo, at the Scoppa estate, Roman-era vines are found trained as bush vines (alberello) in rows of holes dug into the crusta, a method used until the early decades of the twentieth century.

• The white wines display a pale straw-yellow colour, sometimes with a faint greenish tint, a delicate, fruity nose, and a dry, harmonious palate with a slightly bitter finish, most notably in the wine types based on Bombino bianco.
• The red wines show a ruby-red colour with violet highlights that tends slightly toward garnet with age, a nose of red fruits such as sour cherries and sweet cherries with spicy notes — particularly evident in the Nero di Troia — and a dry, warm, firm, and appropriately tannic palate.

• The excellent sunshine of September and October, in a hot, arid climate with scarce summer rainfall, allows the grapes to ripen slowly and fully, contributing to the organoleptic characteristics of the wine.

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-A0568