What is a week like at, Terronia: The New Wine School of Southern Italy?

Once registered and booked, wine students are given access to the Inner Sanctum, which lays out arrival, departure, how to book your room at il castello and everything else you’ll need to make the most of your time with us.

This is how we organise Terronia: The New Wine School of Southern Italy. Depending on a number of factors, the schedule is indicative of how we organise the course, rather than a static schedule. Visiting producers, our lessons at the winery and even season and weather will all influence how your week with us actually plays out. The wine selection, core programme and preparation for the exam, are fixed and will not change, regardless of the hour of the day, day of the week, etc.

domenica (Sunday)

12:00 Meet at Porta Napoli in Lecce. (Details in Inner Sanctum).

12:00 to 14:00 Open House at la casa di Silvestro (our Lecce location).

14:00 Departure for il castello.

15:00 arrival at il castello, free time to get settled in.

16:00 Orientation.

18:00 Overview of the week.

19:00 Aperitivi sulla loggia (apertifs on the loggia)

20:00 il carricante: an introduction

21:00 Official welcome dinner with five courses and five wines.

23:00 Le ore piccole (‘the late hours’). Drinks in front of the fireplace,  in the pool or on the loggia, depending on season.

 

lunedi (Monday)

9:00 Pasta making (optional for whoever would like)

10:00 Building your wine vocabulary in an imperfect world.

11:00 Discussion: What Wine is, Past, Present, Future.

12:00 What is the South?

13:00 Communal lunch production.

14:00 Tasting at table.

14:30 Lunch (with 4 wines). ‘The Whites of the South’ (a stylistic thumbnail sketch of Southern whites).

16:30 Free time.

18:00 History, culture and place.

19:00 Primitivo discussion.

20:00 Dinner (with 4 wines). ‘Nerello Mascale’ (an introduction to this red from the slopes of Etna).

23:00 Le ore piccole

 

martedi (Tuesday)

9:00 Tour of winery with tasting. Walking the line: how wine is made, from field to bottle.

Lunch out. Negroamaro tasting (at restaurant)

Return and free time until 18:00

18:00 il primitivo: an introduction

20:00 Tasting at table.

20:30 dinner (with four wines)

23:00 Le ore piccole

 

mercoledi (Wednesday). From Wednesday on, a tasting table will be set up for those that want to practice the blind tasting for the exam.

9:00 Pasta making (optional)

10:00 How to read an Italian label. The politics of naming, shelving and conceptualizing of wine in the modern age.

11:00 As Good As It Gets: Problem Solving in Modern Wine Making.

12:00 Communal lunch production.

13.00 Il gaglioppo: an introduction

2:30 Lunch (with 4 wines)

18:00 Il nero d’Avola: an introduction

19: il frappato: an introduction

20:00 Dinner with 4 wines (nero d’Avola, frappato and ceresuolo di Vittoria).

23:00 Le ore piccole

 

giovedi (Thursday)

9:00 pasta making

10: 00 A review of Southern Italy.

11: 00 How to blind taste

12:00 il grillo: an introduction

13:00 Lunch with 5 wines (a review)

Free time until 18:00

18:00 l’aglianico: an introduction

19-21:00 staff-driven review

Dinner (with 4 forms of aglicanico)

Off to bed.

 

venerdi (Friday)

9:00 pasta making (optional)

10: 00 student driven review (questions posed, answers given)

12:00 early lunch (il brodetto di pesce) served with il rosato salentino.

14:00 the beginning of exams (optional). 15 minutes per student.

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19:00 communal dinner production

20:00 Dinner with 5 wines

23:00 Le ore piccole

 

sabato (Saturday)

Farewell breakfast together.

10:00 Travel to the Lecce train station (for train trip to next destination, or to stay in Lecce for a few more days, which is highly recommended).