Wine Spectator 90 points - A medium-bodied, balanced red, with sculpted tannins and a rich mix of sun-dried black cherry and date fruit, accented by hints of smoke, mocha and black licorice string. Offers a fresh, mineral-tinged finish. Drink now through 2023. 500 cases imported.
(Oct 31 2015)
Artas the Messapian chief who, in 413 B.C., in accordance with an ancient treaty of friendship between Messapia and Athens, provided 150 javelin throwers to support the Athenian expedition to Sicily in the so-called Peloponnesian war between Sparta and Athens. The Messapians, a warlike and independent people, inhabited the southern part of Puglia, and were known as Salentini. It is thought that this name signifies “the people between the seas” because they were based in the south of Puglia between the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
|Located near the bucolic town of Salice Salentino in Puglia, the "heel” of "Italy’s boot” which is an idyllic spot situated between the Adriatic and Tirrenean seas, is the new property of Castello Monaci. The eponymous castle is nestled amid groves of centuries old olive trees, and a long road slices straight through the estate’s 150 hectares of vineyards, forming what Monaci terms a meridian, an imaginary line which is the highest point in the sky reached by the sun.