Moros
by Qian Leung
Any farmer would be able to tell you: unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Which is why the next winery is named Moros, the Greek god of death. Saddened by soulless, homogenised wines and drawn by the memories of harvesting grapes with cousins as a kid, biologist Claudio Quarta decided to experiment with blending local grapes such as negroamaro and primitivo with international varieties such as syrah and merlot. The Moros vineyard is only 1.3 hectares in size, and planted with low-yielding 40- to 50-year-old negroamaro and malvasia nera vines, producing only 7,000 bottles a year. The 60-year-old concrete vats and underground tanks are now used to house wine barrels and ancient Greek amphorae.
