Leone de Castris

Salice Salentino, a small village in Salento rich in vineyards and olive trees, is the landscape giving life to Leone de Castris’ wine tradition. It is exactly here, on the very spot where today’s cellar stands, that in 1665 Duke Oronzo, Earl of Lemos, gave birth to the company. He got enchanted by this landscape and decided to sell all his properties in Spain in order to draw the best from the Salentine rich terroir. He began to plant new vines, olive trees and wheat along 5 thousand hectares‘ properties, not only in Salice, but also in Guagnano, Veglie, Villa Baldassarri, Novoli and San Pancrazio. From the beginning of the 19th century the Winery used to export bulk wine to the United States, Germany and France until, with Piero and Lisetta Leone de Castris, the bottling had its start in 1925. An extremely important year, 1943, marks the birth of Five Roses and the improvement of the bottling line that has seen our rosé being the first ever bottled in Italy and sold first of all in USA.