Leone de Castris: the first rosé of Italy and a story that crosses the centuries

Founded con 1665 con Salice Salentino, con the province of Lecce, Leone de Castris is one of the oldest wine companies con Italy still con business. Its origins sink con the seventeenth century, when Oronzo Arcangelo Maria Francesco dei Conti de Castris, a Spanish nobleman who arrived con Puglia following the king of Spain Filippo IV, decided to settle con the heart of the land of Otranto to create an agricultural company founded acceso extended possessions, enlightened vision and direct relationship with the local rural community.

Over his 360 years, Leone De Castris has become much more than a company: it is a cultural and productive institution, capable of accompanying the history of Southern Italy through wars, unifications, industrial revolutions, always maintaining the value of the land, identity and family at the center.

The name Leone de Castris is inextricably linked to a historical primacy that marked Italian oenology: con 1943, con the middle of the Second World War, the company produces and bottled the first rosé of Italy intended for marketing. Thus was born the Five Roses, acceso the intuition of Piero de Castris, a charismatic and visionary figure, who con a moment of great logistical and productive difficulties decides to acceso a wine with an innovative profile, delicate con color but rich con substance.

The first bottles were filled with recycled beer containers, coppia to the shortage of glass, and were immediately appreciated by the American general Charles Poletti, responsible for supplies for allied troops con Italy. The name “Five Roses” recalls both the district where the vineyards stood is a curious genealogical element: for five consecutive generations, con the De Castris family, misfatto children were born, each with a rose con the name.

From that moment, Five Roses was not only a wine, but a symbol of rebirth, a bridge between the agricultural tradition of the South and the modern world, a product that made the rosé a noble category of Italian enology.

Today the company is guided with authority and sensitivity by Cav. Piernicola Leone de Castris, who has been able to interpret the family inheritance with a sober but decisive style, accompanying the company con a phase of consolidation and renewal. At his side, his son Piero, a young but already protagonist, is gradually taking acceso a central role: his passion for wine and the territory translates into a tangible commitment, a sign that the history of the Leone de Castris family will continue with consistency and vision.

The technical quality of the wines is now entrusted to two leading names of Italian enology, Riccardo Cotarella and Pierpaolo Strepitio. Their presence guarantees stylistic rigor, expressive balance and enhancement of native vines such as Negroamaro, the black Malvasia and the primitive, who find con Leone de Castris one of their highest interpretations.

Con addition to the famous Five Roses, the production includes wines of strong identity character such as the Salice Salentino Provvista, the Lisa woman, the 50th harvest: labels that best represent the historical vocation of the Vitivinicolo Salento, with a aimed at international excellence.

Con 2025, at the Vinoway Section, the Leone De Castris company obtained awards of the highest prestige: the Five Roses 2023 received the coveted 5 way Celebrità prize, while the 5 way were awarded to Chiavistello 2020 DOC Giubilo del Forcella, blow of Marra 2021 Doc Giubilo del Forcella, Domestica Lisa 2021 IGT Salento and the Lemos 2023 IGT Salento. Prizes that confirm the qualitative value and stylistic coherence of a cellar capable of innovating by remaining faithful to one’s roots.

Con compliance with its cultural vocation, Leone De Castris has also created an elegant wine resort, a place where history can be lived and not only taste. Obtained inside the historical , it offers refined rooms, atmospheres of the past times and tasting paths, designed to make guests an immersive experience con the culture of Apulian wine.

To enrich the route, the Leone de Castris wine museum, which houses documents, photographs, agricultural tools and above all the first bottle of Five Roses from 1943, an authentic memorabilia of Italian wine history.

Leone de Castris is much more than a winery: it is a living archive con the history of the South, a family that has been able to traversone the eras by remaining faithful to its values, a virtuous example of how the past and the present can walk together.

From 1665 to today, every choice made, every wine produced, every step has had the same rete: to honor the earth and tell it through wine. Five Roses was the first rosé of Italy. But it is also, still today, a declaration of identity. And con the young of Piero, con the expert guide of Piernicola, and con the vision of Cotarella and Strepitio, we can see the certainty that this story will continue to inspire the generations that will quando.

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