Yours Trulli Ostuni

In Ostuni I found the most fantastic local wine sold by the litre, at about 1.10 euro per litre. It came about that I got talking to 2 local chaps in a field next to me. One of them asked me if I knew his shop. Lu Capuson i think it is called. I followed him in his car to Ostuni town, because he was opening up after lunch. I think it was about 5pm. He had a small shop with 6 hugh containers of wine. Most of them were red and varying percentages of Negro Amaro, for the most part, and Malvasia Nera, grapes. I started by tasting a few and I was given some snacks to taste with them. There some nice rose and white wines but my favourite was the red about 70 / 30, Negro Amaro/Malvasia Nera. At a whopping €3.30 for 3 litres that time, I was back for 10 very soon. Which of course cost €11, which is the amount for one bottle of identical Salice Salentino in Dublin.

The soil around Ostuni is incredible. Rich in iron the red earth grows all manner of things both wild and cultivated. I asked the children to go around the land and find as many things to eat as possible and this was what they brought back.

Figs
Pears
Apple-grenades
Figi di India ( Prickly Pears )
Almonds
Plums
Nespola
Olives

Wild:
Grapes
Asparagus
Rocket
Rosemary
Parsley
Fennel bulbs

This year there has been a fair bit of rain in the winter so I wonder what effect it will have on the land and that which grows on it. I heard reports that the grass was 50cm high at Easter, so who knows?