Amastuola: the farm with organic wines where you sleep among the most beautiful vineyards in Europe

If you are a lover of wine tourism, oil tourism or simply nurture in your imagination a charming stopover in the silence of the Apulian land, in a white stone farmhouse surrounded by greenery, there is one address out of all that you must consider and it is called Amastuola.

The Structure

Lu mare, lu sole e lu vientu, they would say in Salento, but Puglia is much more than all those clichés that have been swirling around it in recent years for better or worse. Puglia is a land of ravines, centuries-old olive trees and vineyards, a region made up of villages and people who live in the beauty they feel without weight. In this case we are going to the province of Taranto, more precisely to Crispiano in the land of the Cento Masserie, an area characterized by prehistoric civilizations, centuries-old olive trees and a precious red soil that reaches as far as the Manduria plain.

When I enter the life of rural landscapes, the first thing I ask myself is what it would be like to live there, to escape the hustle and bustle of a big city and take refuge in the tranquility of those fabrics that except for rare news episodes never make noise. Questions and reflections that last a short time, but which find a natural answer in those who on that land first are born there and then decide to stay, like the Montanaro family.

Entrepreneurs, owners of the Kikau windows and doors brand, who over time decided to expand and differentiate the deep motivations that bind them to their land by investing in a farm with receptivity. So take a hill, decide to renovate the farmhouse that has dominated it since the 15th century and all around, hire a Spanish landscape architect (Fernando Caruncho) to design a continuous wave of vineyards (now 100 hectares organic), interspersed with green oases containing centuries-old olive trees. In fact, a garden with a unique vision, far-sighted in its care of a rare beauty that is always the child of elegance. Essential lines, carefully chosen materials and a geometry that is never angular predominate, as if that elegance cares to maintain the discretion of the silence that surrounds it.

Masseria Amastuola today is a wine resort that in its enclosed courtyard structure, surrounded by traditional dry stone walls, has 18 accommodations including suites and deluxe rooms, producing about 13 labels made from organically grown native vines. The master suite has a private terrace overlooking sunsets over the Gulf of Taranto, while outside the rooms, in addition to a tasting room and a neutral space wedged between books and a large fireplace, there is also an outdoor pool that skims the horizon and a restaurant that speaks gourmet.

Amà is the name of the tables that are dressed classically and served welcomingly in Amastuola's courtyard, in the spaces that once saw stables and still preserve original mangers, a gastronomic project entrusted to the kitchen of chef Luigi Chirico. Attention to the authentic and the intention to enhance it with unceasing research and refined contemporaneity represent the vision that accompanied both the impressive restoration work of the masseria and the parallel winemaking project and that today, without compromise, we find in the restaurant project as well.

The restaurant

The rooms are spacious and wide-ranging, the impression is always one of being enveloped in light, and in the long corridor of set tables, side vaults and warm colors create a picture in which it is easy to immerse oneself with ease. Seating is comfortable and on warm summer evenings there is always that breeze stolen from the outdoor patio, from which the interior spaces are divided by large, unobstructed windows. At the table, the menu is the kind that will whet your appetite, and past the selection of home-made breads, which never disappoints in the quality of the leavening, at the match entries there is serious fun to be had with expectations about Apulian cuisine.

Chef Chirico takes the kitchen from the side of taste, managing the elements to center the authenticity of the flavors involved in a few steps, but essential in remaining tied to the recognizability of each. From the appetizers come a Cuttlefish with almond, saffron water, lemon and black garlic, a dish of great elegance where the saffron and black garlic are amplified to the cleanliness of the lemon. The texture of the cuttlefish obtained during cooking is excellent and the almond note persistent, overall a pleasant dish that enhances each ingredient. Decisive and of arrogant presence is then the braised and fried Cardoncello with yolk, canestrato, toasted pine nuts and caper powder. A full, enveloping play of textures, very pronounced in flavor notes and satisfying in a well-balanced fatty component.

Mezza manica with octopus ragout with chicory, carrots and Crusco bell pepper is a mouthwatering first course where the sweetness of the ragout and carrots meets with pleasant contrast the bitter notes of the chicory reduction. The ragout retains a good acidity and the Crusco bell pepper powder lengthens the time of a pleasant persistence.

Among the rabbit and turbot of the main courses, finally the choice goes to the Caciocavallo Butter Aged Beef Loin, served with pumpkin and braised mushroom. The cooking of the meat, thanks to an interesting maturation process, leaves the sirloin tender and tasty in a satisfying texture when fed with the excellent porcini mushrooms (on that occasion). Finally, really satisfying for dessert lovers is the Crispy Taco with ricotta mousse, dried figs and caramel sauce. Really well balanced in sugars, without losing sight of the mouthwatering side of expectations and with a quality on the ricotta cheese that is truly remarkable.

From a wine resort one might expect a self-centered wine list, here instead we also find a selection of organic wines spanning all of Apulia. For those who prefer pairing, in this case stitched to in-house productions, may discover the selection of Amastuola's signature glasses remarkable. The service is of a pleasant degree of informality, the staff is present and never intrusive, but above all they are prepared and constantly courteous.

Positioned just a few kilometers from the Itria Valley and less than an hour from Polignano, Matera, Ostuni and the beaches of Salento, overall Amastuola is Puglia. A destination that does not disappoint, across the entire hospitality line, if you want to find the authenticity of a region that is intense and enveloping, but told with the sophistication needed to make you feel exactly where you wanted to go, but at the same time out of this world. Elegance, care, refinement and a healthy sense of welcome take you inside white walls overlooking the Gulf of Taranto between design in the spaces and taste in the experience. So the Montanaro family and Luigi Chirico's cuisine are always worth not just the stop, but the trip.