Matané

Salento is located in the southernmost portion of Apulia and is Italy’s easternmost area. It is a land of extreme and dramatic beauty with lush, dark red soil bathed in Mediterranean sunlight. Historic native varieties and outstanding vineyards are constantly windswept by the salty breezes of the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. The peninsula’s amazing palette of colors and sensations gives Salentino wines a layered depth, unique to the region.

Needless to say, this new frontier of unexplored treasures was just what the Empsons were looking for. Neil, Maria and Tara Empson had long been searching for the right terroir in the area, when they discovered some of its finest and oldest vineyards. Ever since discovering a few parcels of old bush-trained Primitivo, the team has searched for similar quality and old vines throughout the region.

The project was named after Maria, Tara and Neil. The Matané mission consists of exploring, enhancing and exporting the richness and excellence of Salento viticulture using 100% estate-grown fruit nowadays; Matané packaging correspondingly pays homage to Salento and depicts one of its symbols, a traditional local dance called the Pizzica. In ancient times, the Pizzica was a ritual dance connected to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine: a tradition from neighboring Greece and its settlers in Puglia.