Cantine San Marzano was established in 1962, when 19 vine growers from San Marzano di San Giuseppe, (TA) – Puglia, whose families had farmed the land for generations, joined their forces to establish a Cooperative. Today, it is the leading player on the Apulian wine-making industry, bringing together 1,200 vine growers and over 1,500 hectares of vineyards. Its President, Francesco Cavallo, has been able to fully appreciate and ride the change in the Apulian wine sector, promoting a real cultural revolution among the members, pursuing the modernization of production facilities and the development of an increasingly qualified, highly-skilled, young workforce.
Cantine San Marzano has played a central role in enhancing the value and profile of Primitivo and in reinterpreting indigenous grape varieties with a contemporary approach, to deliver clean and elegant tastes. It has been able to produce world-class wines – and icon labels – over the years, by combining respect for a thousand-year long tradition with a drive for continuous research.
An example, among many, Sessantanni Primitivo di Manduria Dop, result of an intuition of the President, who was determined to create a new wine that could express the authenticity of the Primitivo grape in a new and modern interpretation. The first Sessantanni bottle saw the light in 2003 and is the product of the harvest of 2000.
The idea came to fruition with the acquisition of a 40-hectare bush-vine vineyard that was over sixty years of age (old vines), and which was eventually renamed as the “Valle del Sessantanni”.
The vineyard is located in the area of Primitivo di Manduria DOP, on fine-textured residual red soil, with a generous calcareous substrate, a few emerging rocks and a high content of iron oxides, giving the earth its typical red hue – a single vineyard that has marked a turing point for the entire area and which, with its unique style, has earned a reputation as a reference standard for Primitivo wines internationally.
This 2019, Cantine San Marzano has joined Singapore Newspaper Wines, Spirits and Beers competition and won a gold medal:
Anniversario 62 Primitivo di Manduria DOP Riserva
Awarded Gold by Singapore Newspaper
In 1962, 19 winemakers, determined to demonstrate the high potential of wines from Salento, founded “Cantine San Marzano”. A long time has passed since then, yet their old vines still produce rare and precious grapes. Our job is to pick and enhance them, with a pinch of experience and a handful of innovation. The result is this intense, elegant Primitivo that ages well.
Interview of Mr. Francesco Cavallo
President of Cantine San Marzano
Question 1: Do you already export to Singapore ? If yes, where ? If no, what type of importers & distributors are you looking for in Singapore ?
Yes, we currently export one of our brands to Wine Creek Pte Ltd.
Singapore is a very interesting market where quality wine consumption has been increasing lately. Growth trends are positive and over the last 15 years wine market has doubled, also thanks to a multicultural population always paying attention to foreign cultural influences.
Question 2: What is the most unique and qualitative part of your products, different from competitors ?
We are preserving several ancient vineyards. These vineyards are planted with very old and wrinkled Primitivo bush vines. The potential in the vineyard is very high and thanks to a modern approach in the winery we are able to produce wines with a great character but at the same time clean and modern.
Research and sustainability are the keywords to get the best possible outcome and to work in a region, Puglia, which suffers from difficult climate conditions that we work hard to turn and exploit in our favour.
Question 3: When did you start to export your brand worldwide, and what is your development plan for the next years ?
A proper export strategy started around the beginning of the millennium. In the last 7 years we could manage to reach a very good distribution. Today we are distributed in more than 80 markets. The plans for the future are all in our motto: Wine, Sharing, Beauty. We want to share emotions, beauty and wine with our customers. Please follow us: #sanmarzanowines
For more information about the company and their products please visit their website: www.sanmarzanowines.com
