Cantele 2023 Verdeca, Puglia IGP

The Wine

"A wine that whispers of citrus and stone".

The Verdeca grape is said to be Puglia’s quiet rebel. Though it has an ancient history, Verdeca has spent most of that time lingering in the shadows. With this wine, we feel it's time to give it a well-deserved moment in the limelight, a role it has taken to with grace and grit. And Cantele has produced a wine of transparent varietal expression without makeup or pretense. 

In the glass, the wine shows pale yellow with a trace of green. Its opening salvo begins with aromas of lime, lemon leaf and pear, supported by hints of herbs and warm stones by the seashore. On the palate, the wine echoes its aromatics, with a mineral-and-saline theme that begs to be paired with food - think fresh sardines simply grilled and drizzled with a squeeze of lemon and fresh parsley! 

Other pairing ideas: zucchini flan, ceviche, citrus-dressed crudo, gazpacho, or summer veggies. The wine is a natural with stretched-curd cheeses like fior di latte, stracciatella or giuncata. For pasta? Try spaghetti with lemon and mint or fregola with grilled vegetables.

The Winery

Founded in the 1950s by Giovanni Battista Cantele and Teresa Manara, the Cantele story begins with a migration—from Imola in the north to Salento in the deep south. They weren’t chasing trends, they were building a future. Today, the winery is still family-run, blending northern precision with southern warmth. The two regions are as different as night and day, in most every way you can think of - culture, food, wine and attitude. By blending the two, the Cantele family creates a unique synergy, building on the best of both.

Cantele’s approach to Verdeca is emblematic of their ethos: let the grape take center stage. To achieve this transparency, the wine sees no time in oak and receives no other treatment that could lend any sort of embellishment. Just stainless steel, cool fermentation, and a deep respect for the varietal’s thiolic aromatic profile (the chemicals from the grape that evoke citrus, tropical fruits and herbs).

The Cantele family vineyards are in the Itria Valley, swept by sea winds and steeped in limestone.