Fatalone

Territory
At the beginning of the Oligocene there was still connections between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic Seas.
Between the cretaceous plate of the Bari area and the Southern Apennines, the Saddle of Spinazzola formed a broad strait that linked the Ionian Sea to the Adriatic, where the today's territory of Gioia del Colle was submerged.
This assertion is confirmed by the finding of marine fossils in our soils.
The noble Fatalone wines come from the country of ancient Peucetians, on the Murgia hills to the south of Bari, 365mt above sea level, among huge stone reef, broken to become ideal home and essential nutriment for our vines.
Viticulture in our region has a long lasting tradition: excavations carried in the archaeological site of Monte Sannace (to the north-east of Gioia del Colle), have brought to the discovery of an extensive Peucetian settlement (VIII-III cent. b. C.) and the recovery of numerous potteries for wine and olive oil.

Our territory is rich in considerable historic and tourist cues: the mentioned site of Monte Sannace, the Norman-Swabian Castle, the Cathedral and in a short distance the Grotte of Castellana, the Sassi of Matera, the Trulli of the Valle d'Itria.
It has a marked agricultural inclination, full of typical quality productions, a real natural museum in the open air. Among the prevalent cultivations there are vineyards, almond and olive groves, cherry and plum orchards.
The hilly structure confer to these lands optimum climatic conditions for viticulture, by means of a right balance of sun, winds and mild temperatures, remarkably different from night to day.
To complete the frame, which our grapes can shine in at best, the soil…

The Soil
A typical Murgian hilly soil, medium mix of clay and limestone, rocky natured and full of minerals.
Thin layers of red earth mixed to limestone and silica on huge monolithic reefs, full of marine fossils. Fossils presence confirms the origin of this lands and makes suppose that the name of the locality Spinomarino recalls its original shape: coastal prominence in the strait of sea which submerged the low surrounding lands.