Felline

Felline’s story began with Gregory Perucci’s grandfather, Gregorio, who was an expert grafter in the service of the landowning nobility of Manduria. He returned from WWII unscathed and gained local importance during the post-war agrarian reforms. This forced landowning nobility to give up much of their land to local farmers, who planted vineyards and used Gregorio’s skills in grafting in the process. At the same time, Gregorio had set up a business selling local wine in bulk but most notably, his deep understanding of soil types remains integral to Felline's approach to viticulture today.

It was then during Costantino’s time in charge, Gregorio’s son, where Apulian wineries transitioned to be more modern and efficient. He built the company’s third winery and by the mid-1990’s, the company was among one of the largest Italian exporters of bulk wine.

Gregory Perucci, Costantino’s eldest son, joined the family business in 1989 and began focusing on producing high quality wines bottled on site. After several forays to California, he incorporated modern winemaking techniques and acquired vineyards that suited Zinfandel/ Primitivo as a variety. He founded Felline in 1992.

The winery boasts 120 hectares of vineyards spread across meticulously chosen parcels of land, each with diverse soil compositions including sand, loam, tuff, and clay overlaying a foundation of limestone bedrock. 

Grapes grown in each soil type are vinified and bottled separately to show how Primitivo performs when grown in different conditions.