Amidst vines and olive groves, immersed in natural beauty, lies the Mocavero Vineyard in Arnesano.
Here, Francesco and Marco Mocavero, together with their father Pietro, combine tradition with the latest technology in producing their wines, they are personally involved in the tasks of selecting the grapes, making the wine, refining and bottling.
The company, which has been producing and selling wine since 1950, has received several awards, both in Italy and abroad.
It all began in 1950 when Signor Tommaso discovered that there was a market for producing and selling wine in bulk in his local area. (The Lecce district).
As time went on demand grew and he realised that the market and indeed the way of marketing wine was changing, hence the involvement of the two brothers Francesco and Marco, who together with their father Pietro founded the Mocavero Wine Company in 1990.
The ultra modern buildings and equipment are designed specifically to provide everything necessary for making good wine, conferring dignity and value to the pleasure and culture of drinking.
All the processes involved, from production to quality control to marketing to customer service, are carried out by the company members themselves.
The company began by taking on the local market, then, having gained experience it then took on the foreign market, and obtained, with time, good sales in the European, American and Japanese markets: a clear sign of the excellent level of quality reached.
Today the company is directed by the Mocavero brothers, who just like their ancestors from whom they get their surname -which in Arabic means "warrior"- show all the entrepreneurial skills and the inherited passion necessary for the wine industry.
Francesco, in whose pleasant face you can trace the lineaments and character of his Spanish ancestors, has also inherited two centuries worth of traditions and experience for managing a family run company.
"I am a businessman but above all a farmer", he says of himself, "I love good manners, culture, politeness, elegance and professionalism".
Marco is his younger brother, his strong, solid, character and innovative ideas also reflect his ancestry.

The Mocavero Wine Company is convinced that the best way of making good wine is to carry out the whole cycle of production on its own premises. In this way you can guarantee greater control of the product without having to rely on any external agents.
Thus the vineyard is the key to the company and the family's latest move has been to create new spaces specially adapted for barrels and for the bottling and labelling machinery, updated offices and wine tasting cellars.
After the grapes have been harvested and scrupulously selected from special vines, the grapes are moved to the wine cellars where the production stage begins, carried out on the basis of the quality and type of product being created. These rooms contain large scale investment in technology; pneumatic presses for soft pressing, wine pressers and scrapers, fermentation machinery complete with cooling systems to control the temperature in the fermentation phase, filters for cleaning must and storage silos for conserving and maturing the wines before bottling, and barriques (wooden wine barrels) where the best wines are refined before they are ready for sale.

Negro Amaro
This grape takes pride of place and has several synonyms such as Niuru Maru (in local Leccese dialect Black and Bitter because of its colour and taste), also Nero leccese Lecce black, Uva lagrima (in local towns such as Squinzano, Montemesola, Terlizzi), Arbese, Albese (in Campi Salentina, Guagnano), Uva Cane.
It is the most common type of grape in the Lecce - Brindisi area and makes up, and is prevalent in, most of the red and rosé wines produced in these two provinces; it is the best variety of grape for producing the local 'Rosso del Salento'.
The bunches are of medium size and have a conical shape; the grapes are medium-sized with a thick skin and of a reddish black colour; the pulp is juicy with a neutral taste. In whatever way it is processed Negroamaro always produces a pink juice. Ready to be harvested between the end of September and the first ten days of October.
The wine produced from this grape varies from ruby red to garnet red in colour and has a pleasant bitter note.
Main area of Production: Salento, Italy
Distinctive Features: Adult leaf, medium-large, pentagonal, tri-pentalobate, dark green in colour with light anthocyanin pigmentation at the base of the midrib, generalised undulation at edge and downy underneath between the veins.
Sprouting: vigorous
Bunches: medium-large (300-360g) medium length (19 cm), semi-compact, cylindrical-conical.
Grapes: medium, spherical, glaucous.
Germination: end of March, beginning of April.
Flowering: end of May.
Darkening: End of July.
Ripening: medium-late (between the end of September and the first half of October).
The NegroAmaro grape is known to have high levels of resvatrol (which is now known to help prevent cardiovascular diseases) and to produce a deep red wine with a bouquet of red fruit with a prevailing hint of cherry. In the mouth it is discreetly harmonious, the whole not entirely balanced; on the whole typically full bodied with a good structure.
Malvasia Nera
This vine has ancient origins, originating in Greece and the Aegean Islands, now common in most Mediterranean countries as well as in Madeira, in South Africa and in California.
The wine it produces, often called Malmsey in English, is sweet with a fantastic golden hue. The most famous wine is that of Madeira.
It is cultivated throughout Italy, from Piedmont to Apulia, from Alto Adige to Sicily and Sardinia, and is used in 11 Malvasie D.O.C wines and in the blending of at least 50 other D.O.C. wines. If it is used correctly a really good dry white can be produced, and if used with other types of grape it helps to make the wine smooth and well rounded.
The bunches of Malvasia Nera are medium to large in size, semi-compact, with a conical stem. The grapes are medium to large, come off the stalk easily and are dark blue with a thin skin, fleshy pulp and clear cut taste.
Primitivo
The Primitivo is certainly not a variety to be forgotten, also known as Primaticcio (in Trani and Altamura), Primativo (in Turi, Gioia del Colle) and Uva di Corato. Called "primitivo" because it is quick to ripen ("prima" -first "maturare" - to ripen). It was introduced to the Taranto area around 1890/92 in the hilly area of Gioia del Colle where, 400m above sea level, it thrives.
There are various sub-varieties of this grape, such as Primitivo selezionato and the Locale, varieties which are slightly less vigorous, with smaller bunches, and which are also more adaptable to drier and poorer soil types.
Recently studies of DNA have discovered a relationship between the Hungarian Zinfandels, Primitivo and Plavac mali which can be found in South Croatia.
One of the peculiarities of this type of grape is the fact that it can be harvested twice as it has a secondary shoot, the second harvest is in the second half of September, the wine from this harvest has a weaker scent and is more neutral than the main harvest.
Main areas of production: Taranto and Bari districts.
Variety of grape recommended in thefollowing districts: Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, Foggia, Taranto and Caserta.
Authorized: Benevento, Salerno, Matera.
Distinctive features: Adult Leaf, pentagonal, of medium size, 5- lobed, dark green in colour, opaque, covered in bloom. Underside light green, downy with raised veins.
Shoots: pastern.
Flowering: 10-25 May.
Darkening: first ten to twenty days of July.
Ripening: end of August, beginning of September (main harvest), 20/30th September the secondary harvest.
Wines it is used for: in the D.O.C. Gioia del Colle, Primitivo di Manduria, Aleatico di Puglia, etc.
Agricultural method: mainly cultivated using" controspalliera" method, even if other large scale methods could also be used effectively.
Vulnerable to spring frosts, drought, to summer temperatures with fading and shrivelling of the grapes and to being attacked by harvest mites/bugs.
Chardonnay
One of the greatest white grape varieties in the world. Its origins are in Burgundy, but it is now international and so popular that it has hardly any synonyms.
It has an incredible variety of aromatic components, which come out in different ways depending on the soil and the climate it is produced in. Even with relatively high yields, good quality wine can be produced. However if you exceed 8,000kg/hectare there is a significant decrease in the quality, whereas if you reduce the yield drastically you can produce wines with a lot of character. Its only weak point is its early sprouting, which is a risk in cold areas like Chablis and Champagne, with spring frosts. The thin peel of the grapes can lead to rot setting in. Choosing the right time to harvest is essential, if you delay the level of acidity can be too low. It is the essential ingredient for some of the best fizzy wines in the world; it can be aged well. Chardonnay cuttings are extremely sought after which leads some over-ambitious producers to carry out contraband.
Nowadays great wines are produced using this grape in places at opposite ends of the world: New Zealand, Israel, Australia, California, Chile, Argentina etc. Italy, particularly the north of Italy, can boast a long tradition of cultivating this grape, which, for many years has often been mistaken for Pinot Bianco, probably due to mistakes made by nursery growers. Nowadays it is produced all over Italy, with varying degrees of success. You can get really good Chardonnays in Piedmont, Friuli, Veneto, Trentino, Valle D'Aosta, Tuscany and Sicily.
Their only limitation, if you can call it that, is that all the best Italian Chardonnays are produced with some of the ageing done in French wood (barrique), inevitably leading to certain similarities in the final result.
It has a medium size leaf, smooth and undulating; a medium to small sized bunch, compact and of a cylindrical-conical shape. The berries are small and spherical, with a thin yellowish-green skin covered in bloom. It ripens in the second half of August.
Montepulciano
This black grape has always had somewhat mysterious origins, it has often been confused with the Sangiovese grape, probably because of the Tuscan town called Montepulciano. Even experts like Molon (1906) classified it with the Sangiovese varieties. Today we know that these two grapes have nothing in common. It is cultivated mainly in Abruzzo and in other central-southern regions. It has many other names including Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Uva abruzzese, Morellone, Primaticcio, Cordisco etc. Today, thanks to the work done by various producers and wine experts, Montepulciano has made a comeback as one of the highest quality red grape varieties.
It has a medium sized leaf, pentagonal and 5-lobed; medium sized bunches which have a conical or cylinder-conical shape. Medium sized grapes of sub oval shape, thick-skinned, covered in bloom, black-violet in colour. It thrives in deep terrain, well-exposed in hot and dry climates.
Diseases and problems: It copes well with spring frosts, quite sensitive to mildew, less so to downy mildew.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Also known as Bordeaux, Breton, Caberè, Cabernet and Veron it comes from the Bordeaux region in South-western France. It came to Italy via Piedmont at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Shoots: open, cottony, yellowish-white, with deep reddish-pink tinges at the edges.
Leaves: 5-lobed glossy leaves which have a downy mauve-coloured underside.
Bunches: low weight conical or pyramidal, usually winged, tend to be compact.
Berries: low weight, round, thick-skinned, blue-black in colour and covered in bloom. Taste of violet and rowan berry, astringent.
Germination: medium.
Flowering: medium-early.
Darkening: average.
Ripening: average - early.
Aglianico
A variety of grape which has been traditionally cultivated in Southern Italy, particularly in Campania, Apulia and Basilicata. It is thought to have been introduced into Campania at the time when they were founding their colonies along the Tyrrhenian coast.
It spread as it became known and became the most common variety of grape in Southern Italy. .
Shoots: open, cottony, green or bronze yellow.
Leaves: from medium to smallish medium, pentagonal, 3-lobed or 5-lobed.
Bunches: low weight, short to medium, cylindrical or conical, simple or winged, relatively compact.
Berries: Low weight, round, uniformly blue-black. Skin of medium thickness, covered in bloom.
Sprouting: medium.
Flowering: medium.
Darkening: late.
Ripening: late.