When people talk about Troy, aside from the vulgar and banal Italian jokes, the mind turns to the stories of Ulysses, Hector, Paris, Achilles and all the heroes whose deeds Homer sang of.
Beyond the historic city razed to the ground by the Greeks, in Italy, and precisely in Puglia, there is a small, namesake town of 7,500 souls in the province of Foggia.
The municipality has very ancient foundations dating back to the 12th–11th century BC and according to legend it was none other than the Greek hero Diomedes and Ulysses who gave it its origins.
Romans, Saracens, Byzantines, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese and Bourbons followed one another until the Piedmontese invasion, which, given the combative spirit of the local people, was no easy feat.
Today Troia is a predominantly agricultural town tied to the cultivation of durum wheat, extra-virgin olive oil and wine!
The most famous and characteristic production is certainly Nero di Troia, naturally a dark-berried grape variety.
Today we tasted for you Guado San Leo 2010, the flagship wine of the excellent estate D'Alfonso del Sordo, located in San Severo.
The wine is born from the pure vinification of Troia grapes sourced entirely from the "Coppanetta" Estate vineyard.
The soil is clayey and calcareous, rather harsh and unforgiving with the vines! It is for this reason that the estate chooses to compensate with delicate handling – harvesting, selecting and destemming by hand, and carrying out a gentle pressing.
After maceration of approximately fifteen days, the wine is aged in Barriques for nine months.
To the eye it appears impenetrable, dark – you feel as though you can already sense its body with your eyes alone.
It needs to be properly oxygenated before opening up and revealing all its nuances on the nose.
Ripe red fruits, blackberries, sour cherry, cherry, blackcurrant, figs, spicy notes recalling pepper, tobacco and toast.
I can't wait to drink it!
On the palate it is exactly as I imagined! A beautiful full-bodied structure, utter satisfaction on the palate!
We find red fruits and everything already noted on the nose; aromas of coffee also stand out, and we perceive a sustained yet elegant tannin that is never intrusive and leaves us falling in love…
A non-invasive use of wood has enriched an excellent wine, making it outstanding.
15 euros very well spent! Highly recommended.
What do you think?
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