Puglia
Est. 1950 
10 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
Wine area
Murge and Castel del Monte
Limestone tableland north of Bari, anchored by the Hohenstaufen castle.
Torrevento
Torrevento is a family winery in northern Puglia, at the foot of Frederick II's eight-sided Castel del Monte. The Liantonio brothers bought the estate, an old stone monastery with its vineyards, in 1948. Today the winery manages more than 500 hectares of vines across Puglia. It grows Puglia's native grapes, such as Nero di Troia, Bombino and Primitivo. The winery says its 1992 Vigna Pedale was the first wine ever bottled from Nero di Troia alone. You can book a cellar visit with a tasting on its website.
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Wines from Torrevento
About Torrevento
The Torrevento story begins with a sea crossing. In 1913 Francesco Liantonio, aged sixteen, sailed for New York on a ship called the Hamburg. He made a small fortune selling ice on the streets of America and came home to Puglia in 1923. At Palo del Colle the family then started making and trading extra virgin olive oil and processing grapes. In 1948 the Liantonio brothers bought a 17th-century Benedictine monastery in the Torre del Vento district. It came with 57 hectares of vines around it, about 80 football pitches. In 1950 Gaetano Liantonio inherited the estate, renovated it and set up the Vinicola Torrevento cellar in the old monastery.
In 1989, with Francesco Liantonio, the family set up the company Torrevento Srl. Today's president, also called Francesco Liantonio, is the grandson and namesake of the boy who sailed to New York. In 1992 the winery launched its first line of Castel del Monte wines: a white, a rosé and a red. Castel del Monte is a DOC named after the castle. In 1993 the winery released its 1992 Vigna Pedale, made from Nero di Troia alone. It says this made it the first winery in Puglia to bottle the grape on its own. It also calls Vigna Pedale the first such wine in the world. The name comes from the Pedale vineyard, a stretch of rocky limestone shaped like a pedal. Today Vigna Pedale is a Riserva, aged for 18 months in large oak barrels, with Castel del Monte's higher DOCG status.
Torrevento's wines now come from three parts of Puglia. The Castel del Monte wines grow on the hills of the north. The Primitivo comes from central Puglia, from the red soils of the hills between Gioia del Colle and the coast near Taranto and Manduria. On the mostly flat Salento peninsula, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera go into Salice Salentino reds and Puglia IGT wines. The range includes Ottagono, Italian for octagon, a Nero di Troia Riserva. Veritas is a rosé from Bombino Nero, and Dulcis in Fundo is a sweet Moscato di Trani.
Torrevento has worked on sustainable farming for many years. In its 2019 guide to Italian wine, Gambero Rosso gave the winery its special prize for sustainable winegrowing. It was also among the first Italian companies to gain Equalitas, a certificate that checks social, environmental and economic practice. Weather stations in the vineyards help decide when to water. The winery ploughs less and works to build up life in the soil. It limits which sprays it uses and how often. The vineyards it owns and runs are in SQNPI, Italy's scheme for integrated farming. Four Fili d'erba wines are made from organic grapes. Veritas was one of the first three wines in Italy traced by My Story. A QR code on its label shows the wine's journey from vineyard to bottle.
The winery stands in the Alta Murgia National Park, protected since 2004. Castel del Monte, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, stands alone on a hilltop in the Murgia, 540 metres up. Its eight sides inspired the Torrevento logo. Visitors can book one of six cellar visits with a tasting on the winery's website. Prices run from 20 to 30 euros a head. Each visit needs at least two people, lasts 50 to 60 minutes and pours three to five wines. The cellar shop sells the wines from Monday to Saturday, closing at 13:00 on Saturdays. For a meal, the winery's website points to Le Vigne al Castello Wine Resort, at the foot of Castel del Monte. Its Osteria Ottolune serves Torrevento wines with dishes from the Murgia.
Plate I · PUGLIA
Torrevento on the Puglia wine atlas
Winery
Torrevento
Corato, Bari · Murge and Castel del Monte
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
3 bookable experiences at Torrevento
3 tastings, checked by our editors. From €20.
Tasting & Tour
Castel del Monte classics: cellar visit and tasting
50 to 60 minutes
€20 per person
A visit to the cellar, then a tasting of three Castel del Monte DOC wines. You taste Pezzapiana, a white from Bombino Bianco and Pampanuto, and Primaronda, a Nero di Troia rosé. The red is Bolonero, from Nero di Troia and Aglianico. At least two people.
Book this tour
on torrevento.eu
Tasting & Tour
Castel del Monte DOCG wines: cellar visit and tasting
50 to 60 minutes
€25 per person
A cellar visit with a tasting of the winery's three Castel del Monte DOCG wines. You start with Veritas, a Bombino Nero rosé. Then come two Nero di Troia reds aged in large oak barrels, Vigna Pedale and Ottagono. At least two people.
Book this tour
on torrevento.eu
Tasting & Tour
Puglia from north to south: cellar visit and tasting
50 to 60 minutes
€30 per person
A cellar visit with five reds from across Puglia. From Castel del Monte come Vigna Pedale and Ottagono, both Nero di Troia. Then you taste Ghenos Primitivo di Manduria, Since 1913 Primitivo and Sine Nomine, a Salice Salentino Riserva. At least two people.
Book this tour
on torrevento.eu
Not seeing the estate you want? Estates without an online listing are reachable directly, and their phone and email are in Plan your visit.
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What Torrevento makes
Torrevento's current bottle selection is led by Primitivo di Manduria DOC. The clearest grape signal comes from Uva di Troia and Aglianico.
Common questions
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Yes. The winery sells six cellar visits with a tasting on its website, torrevento.eu, at 20 to 30 euros a head. Each needs at least two people, lasts 50 to 60 minutes and pours three to five wines. Two focus on Castel del Monte wines. The others feature regional IGT wines with a sweet Moscato di Trani, organic wines, a winemaker's selection and reds from across Puglia. When you book, you can add Puglian snacks such as friselline with olive oil or focaccia barese, at 3 to 6 euros a head.
Plan a visit
Ask us to arrange your visit to Torrevento
This form reaches the ItalianWines.co.uk team, not the winery. Tell us when you would like to come and how many you are: we contact Torrevento for you and come back with availability and prices, usually within two working days.
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