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Leone de Castris celebrates heritage with its Donna Coletta range

06 October 2023 By Michael Huband

Launched less than five years ago and yet centuries in the making: Donna Coletta proves new directions can emerge from ancient traditions.

Piernicola Leone de Castris has the force of history behind him. The company that shares his name began in 1665, founded by a Spanish duke who fell in love with the picturesque town of Salice Salentino. The family can trace back 15 generations of grape growing.

In winemaking, too, there is a notable heritage. His family began making their own Puglian wines in 1886, four generations before him. His grandparents, Piero and Lisetta Leone de Castris, created Five Roses, the first rosé bottled in Italy.

Yet far from being crushed by expectation, Piernicola Leone de Castris has added to his family’s story. He has introduced Donna Coletta, a range of three Primitivos that pays tribute to the region’s long history of winemaking.

The starting point was to replant vineyards in Murgia. The limestone plateau, south of the Adriatic port of Bari, is home to Gioia del Colle DOC. Though Primitivo appears across southern Italy, the appellation is an important sub-region, and has a claim as the variety’s homeland.

For Piernicola Leone de Castris, it was the perfect spot to develop the family business. Having grown up in the local town of Noci, he knew the area intimately and recognised its potential for reevaluation.

As a new venture, but rooted firmly in tradition and history, the Donna Coletta estate allows him to look to the future while connected to the past. In fact, Leone de Castris frames it as a generational transaction, a continuing father-to-son legacy that spans centuries. His son, PierSalvatore, who works with him on the project, is the fifteenth generation of the winemaking dynasty.

However, even discounting the bias of family history, the land is ideally suited to Primitivo cultivation. The grape’s natural qualities – late budding that avoids spring frosts and the early maturation referred to in its name – are ideal for a healthy, reliable crop. As a commercial proposition, supporting a family inheritance, you could not ask for more.

Better still, the vineyards allow a distinctive expression of terroir. The plateau’s altitude ensures a wide temperature range you may not expect from Southern Italy. Sea breezes add a further consistent cooling effect. Such moderating influences help maintain acidity and lower the potential alcohol in an area that can easily see 16% ABV in its reds.

In soil too, there is an advantage. The rich combination – calcareous shell deposits, sand and clay – balances the need for water retention with finesse in the final wines. While the roots can access water reserves to survive hot summers, they retain the concentration of flavour associated with well-draining soils. The structure and complexity of the wines are a direct result of the complex geology.

The small range is an articulate expression of terroir and variety. Each has the hallmark of Murgia’s Primitivo, revealing juicy red fruit and violet, but also the estate’s unique character. They show a full range of possibilities in making younger reds, riservas and rosés.

Though a relatively new project, the Donna Coletta wines are testament to the rich history of the region and a prominent winemaking family.

The wines of Leone de Castris, including the Donna Coletta Colpo di Zappa, are available in the UK through the importer Eurowines.

Below are Patrick Schmitt MW’s tasting notes for the three wines.

Marisa Primitivo Rosato IGT Puglia DOC

Region: Puglia
Country: Italy
Vintage: 2021
Grape Varieties: 100% Primitivo
Abv: 12%

A pale salmon pink rosado that open with a clean, youthful nose. Aromas of peach and pear are clear on the ripe, fruity nose. The palate shows lots of pear and apple fruit, with a zesty fresh acid finish, reminiscent of slightly biting bitter lemon. It is youthful, intense and persistent, showing both a nice core of delicate redcurrant and ripe apple and a sharp, dry finish.

Saliscendi Gioia del Colle Primitivo Riserva DOC

Region: Puglia
Country: Italy
Vintage: 2019
Grape Varieties: 100% Primitivo
Abv: 14%

This opens with a touch of age on the nose, offering plums, cedar and balsamic. The palate is quite complex, with plums, prunes and cherry and but also dark chocolate, coffee, sweet balsamic and a hint of raisin. It leads to a bright, interesting finish with firm dry tannin and fresh acidity.

Colpo di Zappa Primitivo Gioia del Colle DOC

Region: Puglia
Country: Italy
Vintage: 2020
Grape Varieties: 100% Primitivo
ABV: 15%
Approx Retail Price: £32

This presents as lovely ruby in the glass, with a brick red rim. The nose leads with cherry and plums, plus a hint of vanilla and chocolate. The palate is rather lovely: medium in weight, with notes of plums, cherry (both flesh and stone) and hint of redcurrant. This is mixed with cedar wood and some milk chocolate. The finish is fresh, with firm, fine dry tannin. The wine shows nice structure and persistence, closing on a warming note with sweet blueberry and subtle raisin flavours.