The “Susumaniello”, an ancient autochthonous black grape variety of this land from the beginning of the Salento area, hides in its name the relationship of analogy with the donkey.
In fact, the name ‘susumaniello’ (ciucciariello) derives from the Apulian dialect or in general ‘summariello’ or ‘donkey’ which means little donkey or donkey.
But why does this vine bear this name?
Historically it has always stood out for its very high productivity, often at the expense of quality.
The plant originally resembled a donkey loaded with goods, where the donkey represented the vine branch while the bunches represented the load. Furthermore, even today there are wineries that use the donkey during the processing and harvesting of this vine.
Its birth is originally attributable to the white beaches of the city of Brindisi, between the territory of Apani and Torre Guaceto, but later it became the king vine of the whole Brindisi area including the Itria Valley. It is one of the few vines that survived the phylloxera attack at the end of the 19th century, precisely because of its origin on sandy soil and currently the oldest strains are still strictly ungrafted.
Unlike some vines for which low productivity led to the risk of their disappearance, in the case of Susumaniello the opposite is true: too much abundance was a cross in the history of this vine to the point that it was about to almost determine its abandonment.
Its abundance of production, but to the detriment of quality, made it a disadvantage compared to other local indigenous vines such as Negroamaro and Primitivo, then much more renowned and in demand.
The enhancement of the vine took place after the Second World War, when many small landowners decided to focus on this local native vine
Very important in this process were the local cooperatives, such as the ‘Cantine Risveglio’ founded in 1958 with the aim of bringing together those small farmers who until the time of the fascist regime were under the control of the landowners.
The role of the ‘Cantine Risveglio’ cooperative was very important for Susumaniello, especially for two main factors: convincing the more “peasant” mentality in reducing plant productivity and being able to increase research and study and improve the quality of this variety, above all thanks to the investments of the well-known agronomist Giovanni Nardelli, current president of the Cooperative.
Then a nice turn for the Susumaniello:
producers of cooperatives and private companies, such as the historical ones wineries Tenute Rubino, Melillo and others, began to reduce productivity per plant with dry winter pruning and anticipated the harvest to favor a greater concentration of acids and a greater balance with sugars, to create a more harmonious wine, not excessively alcoholic and with increased structure for longevity.
In addition, some of these companies chose the aging in wood, in concrete tanks or in amphora, to have softer and rounder wines especially in the tannic system.
Today most of the Susumaniello plants maintain the historical sapling breeding structure and the vine is included in the production regulations becoming over the years a purebred donkey.
The Apulian territory which represents one of those Italian territories in which the wine-making sector and the autochthonous eloeario one have gone hand in hand for centuries.
We cannot fail to mention the very ancient cultivars of Ogliarola (older) and Coratina (more recent) which have spread a little throughout Puglia.
Precisely in the province of Brindisi around the middle of the 19th century, Giacomino Semeraro, founder of the historic Masseria Pezze Galere 1859, was the first in history to graft varieties of coratina on centuries-old ogliarola trees and it is thanks to him that we still have centuries-old olive trees that they produce half coratina and half ogliarola olives, something more unique than rare.