Amastuola
by Qian Leung
If you have time for only one winery in Puglia, make it Amastuola. Go for the dolce vitae, liquid sunbeams made from late harvest malvasia di candia grapes aged in acacia wood for two years, with unexpected notes of lavender over a core of orange peels. Only 2,000 bottles are made. Its export price is €8 (S$12) - somebody please bring it to Singapore! An equally revelatory wine is centosasi, which means 'a hundred stones'. Made from primitivo vines grown in a stoney vineyard, the wine has an enticing nose of salty sea winds and anchovies, lovely mouthfeel, and gentle tannins - a treat with grilled beef or lamb. Both wines have incredible length, and beguiling depth. Clementines and olive trees are also grown alongside the vineyards, which follow the natural wave of the hill.