Cacc 'e MMitte di Lucera, Name, History and Culture

Puglia is a very interesting region from an oenological standpoint, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Beyond the history of the region and its wines, today we will talk about a very particular Doc.
The uniqueness of this DOC lies in its very name: "Cacc 'e Mmitte" di Lucera is a DOC established in 1975, whose production is permitted in the province of Foggia and in particular in the area of Lucera, Biccari and Troia.
The name derives from a particular winemaking procedure: the owners of palmenti, large landowners with adequate facilities for carrying out winemaking, would rent out their equipment and structures for wine processing. Naturally, the more users rented the facilities, the more the owner earned.

Hence the rush to empty – "cacc" – and to fill – "mmitte" – the palmenti; in practice, the tenant would remove the freshly produced must and transfer it to his own cellar, making the facility immediately available for a new "user".
In recent decades, the historical and etymological meaning of this DOC's name has been completely overturned, with the expression "Cacc e mmitte" now attributed the meaning of quickly emptying and refilling one's glass.
The wine Cacc'è mmitte di Lucera must be obtained from grapes grown in vineyards composed of the following grape varieties in the percentages indicated below:
Uva di Troia (locally known as Sumarello), from 35 to 60%; Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Malvasia nera di Brindisi, alone or in combination, from 25 to 35%; Trebbiano Toscano, Bombino bianco and Malvasia del Chianti, alone or in combination, from 15 to 30%.
The vinification of Cacc'è Mmitte di Lucera takes place with the solid parts of the grape – skins and seeds – kept in contact with the must during fermentation in order to extract a good portion of anthocyanins and tannins contained in the grape pomace; the grapes are crushed, sulphited, and then destined for the fermentation and maceration phases.
Some producers of Cacc'e Mmitte di Lucera apply a passage of several months in Slavonian oak barrels before bottling, to give the wine greater personality and depth.

Cacc'è mmitte has a beautiful ruby red color; on the nose, aromas of red fruits and liquorice root are clearly discernible.
It pairs well with first courses based on meat, particularly with ragù, legume soups, and cured meats, thanks to its good tannic contribution well balanced with acidity and savouriness.
In the name of this wine lies the culture of the Appennino Dauno, but within it are both advantages and drawbacks: on one hand, the difficulty of pronunciation and transcription for non-Apulian Italians and foreigners (who, given export trends, must always be kept in mind); on the other, the merit of remaining etched in the memory precisely because of its distinctiveness, much like the culture of these lands.