When Gregory Perrucci is mentioned that he is celebrated by the international press as the "Saviour of the Primitivo", he just smiles and replies: "Oh, that was a long time ago, we are now pursuing completely different ideas! And there's no shortage of ideas. Maybe because the creative guy actually wanted to become a pianist. But after the conservatory, he and his siblings were to take over his father's huge business. Because father Costantino Perrucci was one of the biggest cask wine producers in Apulia, who blended wines from different producers in the 1970s and 80s and delivered them to large wineries or to the famous vermouth producer Martini & Rossi.

However, Gregory did not find this type of business forward-looking, so in 1994 he bought his first 9 hectares and a vineyard named after the archaeological site near his home town of Manduria: Felline. Already with the first two vintages, of which there were only 6,000 bottles, he achieved quite a reputation with his Primitivo. From the very beginning, his vision was to focus on autochthonous grape varieties in a classic tree-like upbringing. Economically quite risky, because these "Albarello" vines, as they are called here, can only be cultivated manually in a complicated way, which is why many of these older vineyards were no longer cultivated and were available at low prices. Thus, the Felline winery was able to grow rapidly.

This inspired some young winemakers in the area, so in 1996 Gregory Perrucci and his wife Elisabetta decided to found the "Accademia dei Racemi". At first simply as an exchange of ideas between the winegrowers. This resulted in a unique strategy that made all of them successful together, as the small businesses could afford to call in agronomists and geologists for advice and to adapt the grape varieties specifically to the soil and location.

The wines of the individual estates are vinified separately, the vineyards are mostly managed in a natural/organic way and the emphasis is placed on autochthonous grape varieties. In addition to the red grape varieties Primitivo di Manduria, Negroamaro, Malvasia Nera, Ottavianello and Susumaniello, white wine varieties such as Verdeca, Vermentino and Fiano have also become highly successful.

The son of a great producer of blended wine, Gregorio founded Pervini with his siblings in 1993. The aim was to select and bottle the most interesting wines from his father's stock. But after a short time the three of them realized that pure bottling without their own grapes was unsatisfactory. In 1994 the Felline estate was bought with nine hectares and for the first time it was possible to produce wine from own grapes. Gregorio was so enthusiastic about the results that he was able to win over a number of winemakers for his project.

Vermentino 100%

Taste: Nice dark straw yellow color. Perfumed aroma with nuances of oxidated apples, resin, dried apricots and orange zest. Quite fresh with a sharp texture, medium(+) acid and a dry grape finish.

Pairing: Fish-based appetizers, Fish-based pasta or rice dishes