MoPet

Looking for wineries that offer tours easily manageable from Ostuni as day trips during September. Have bookmarked a guided day tour to Lecce that sounds good Also read mention of an organic wine tour near Gravina. Anyone familiar with this winery in Gravina?
Especially interested in tours that include lunch or dinner.
Thanks!

stevewith

I'm not familiar with the tour you are talking about, but unless you have a very specific interest in this winery, that is a long way to drive for an excursion.

For me, the best wines of Puglia are from the Castel del Monte area, which also has the castle to visit, so that might make for a rewarding daytrip overall.

There are of course good wines produced by individuals all over Puglia, so if you are just generally curious about visiting a family run winery to see how things are done, it might make sense to work with the proprietors of wherever you are staying in Ostuni. They might be able to hook you up with a local tour.

And here is an old thread that might be useful to you

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tour-guide.cfm

MoPet

There's a full day private guided tour of Lecce offered by Green Italy Tours-- pickup in Ostuni and two other towns available. No worries about having to drive back to Ostuni after wine sounds good! Is this u reasonably far for one day? I think it was their site actually that mentions the organic winery option in Gravina now that i look again. I can email and request the name. Maybe it's not open to the general public? Since we have two nights in Matera later, Gravina in Puglia is on our itinerary, so we'll be within range for a day trip. Trying to determine the name of this winery in Gravina, but certainly open to other options for vino! I will look at the link and your helpful suggestions above! Thanks!

stevewith

If someone else is doing the driving, then it really doesn't matter too much how far the distances are. That is a lot less stressful.

Since you are going to Matera, I think the wines of Basilicata are better than those of Puglia,so be sure to drink some local wines while in Matera. All the good restaurants have good bottles of the best wines, and they are not expensive. I have heard that Gravina in Puglia is quite an interesting place, so stopping by for the sights on your way to Matera sounds great -- but make sure you arrive in Matera before it gets dark, because it is a rather confusing place to drive even in daylight. Also, make sure you know when things are open in Gravina in Puglia if you have sights you want to see.

http://www.infopointbari.com/index.p...ltra&lingua=en

http://www.fondazionesantomasi.it/ph...pinacoteca.php

Regarding visiting wineries, it just depends on your level of interest. I really enjoy sampling the local wines along with the local foods as part of visiting various parts of Italy, but have yet to get interested in the process of making wine. I was actually more interested in olives and olive oil in Puglia.

Since you have a car, visiting the Crypt of the Original Sin just a few kms south of Matera is highly rewarding. You need to make a reservation so someone unlocks to the cave for you, but that is easy to do online. There are guides who speak English, but others only speak French or German, but it doesn't matter. The cave is quite easy to understand with a Wikipedia printout and just looking at it.