Wine tasting near Castel del Monte: a family winery in the countryside of Andria

A short drive from the castle

Most people who come to this corner of Puglia come for Castel del Monte, the octagonal castle that Emperor Frederick II had built in the 13th century, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After the castle, many of them ask the same question: where can we taste the wine of this land, made by the people who grow it?

I am Giuseppe Capurso, the winemaker who follows the wines of Tenuta Montevitolo. The estate is a masseria, the word for the fortified farmhouses of Puglia that were the centre of a whole farm, with its fields, stores and stables. Ours is in the countryside of Andria, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani: northern Puglia, inland on the Murgia plateau. It is not by the sea, and it is not in the Salento or the Valle d'Itria, the areas further south that many travellers know. We are 15 minutes from the centre of Andria and about 50 minutes by car from Bari airport, and from the estate you can see the castle on the horizon.

What you can book

There are four experiences, all by booking and always with someone from the family:

• Winery visit · about 1 hour: a walk among the barrels and amphorae where our wines rest, guided by the people who make the wine.
• Wine and sparkling wine tasting · about 1 hour 30 minutes: a visit to the cellars, followed by five glasses paired with typical products of the area.
• The olive mill among the olive trees · seasonal, about 1 hour: a visit to the family's new mill, built in 2024, and a taste of the new oil.
• Dinner in the vineyard · summer evenings: dinner under the stars with the dishes of our land and our wines.

We also run seasonal experiences linked to the grape harvest and the olive harvest. Their dates change every year, so we publish them on our events page. For anything you do not find written here, simply ask when you write to us.

What you will see in the cellar

A tasting makes more sense when you know where the wine comes from. Our vineyards lie between 290 and 350 metres above sea level, on limestone soils, and the estate's land borders the Alta Murgia National Park. The farm has been certified organic since 1992. Up here the nights are cooler than the days, and that swing in temperature keeps freshness in the grapes.

We harvest at night, by machine: the grapes come in cool, quickly and at the right ripeness, and because the vineyards are close to the cellar they reach the presses within minutes. In the cellar you will see stainless steel, the pressure tanks we use for our sparkling wines, barrels and amphorae. The wines that age in wood rest in a barrel cellar dug 12 metres into the rock, which the family calls ‘the cathedral in the stone’; classical concerts are held there. And you will meet an old wooden barrel: the one that Saverio Alicino, the family's great-grandfather, used in the 1800s to take wine to northern Italy.

What might be in your glass

I cannot promise here which five wines will be poured on your day. I can tell you what our cellar makes, so you know what to ask about:

• Brut Greco: a Charmat-method sparkling wine from 100% Greco, with orange blossom, grapefruit, lime and peach. It is the glass we welcome guests with.
• Brut Rosé: a long Charmat sparkling wine from 100% Bombino Nero, with white cherry, wild strawberry and rose.
• Sognare Bianco, IGP Puglia, from Trebbiano and Greco: fresh, floral and savoury.
• Rosato da Bombino Nero, Castel del Monte Bombino Nero DOCG: wild strawberry and small red fruits, from the only DOCG in Italy reserved for rosé.
• Nero di Troia Nirvə, IGP Puglia: ‘nirvə’ means black in the dialect of Andria; violet and sour cherry, delicate.
• Primitivo Storia, IGP Puglia: Primitivo dried on the vine, with blackberry, blueberry, tobacco and dark chocolate, first presented at Vinitaly in 2022.

You do not need to be an expert

People often apologise before a tasting: ‘we don't know anything about wine’. There is nothing to apologise for. Look at the colour, swirl the glass, smell it, take a sip and let it sit in your mouth for a moment. Then say what you think, in your own words. ‘It smells of strawberries’ is a perfectly good tasting note. If you prefer not to finish a glass, leave it: nobody will be offended. And if you are driving, tell us, so we can pour less and keep water close.

Booking and getting here

Book through the form on our experiences page or with a WhatsApp message to +39 329 449 4120, giving the date and the number of people. We confirm within one working day; for groups of more than ten people, it is better to call. Children are welcome.

The masseria is at Via Vecchia Spinazzola, km 9.200, 76123 Andria (BT), with free parking at the estate entrance. A good day here is the castle in the morning, checking its own opening times before you go, and the cellar afterwards. If you want to know more about the rosé that shares the castle's name, I have written about Castel del Monte Bombino Nero DOCG. Directions and a map are on our contact page.

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