Maruggio | Le Fabriche

One is quite spoilt for choice of masserie in Apulia these days. The old feudal manors renovated and offering rural hospitality, authentic experiences, organic produce, first-rate regional cuisine, golf in the garden, Mediterranean spas and so forth must number in the hundreds by now. So here’s another fine example for you. Le Fabriche is near the Ionian coast, 50 minutes south of Taranto by car and close to Manduria, known for the potent primitivo grape variety and heady wine of the same name. And, indeed, before it became a country house hotel, Le Fabriche was already reborn as a modern wine estate, cultivating indigenous varieties meticuously and biologically and yielding notable reds under its own label.

Grower Alessia Perrucci‘s project was to combine this with polished hospitality for visitors to the region, in 19 spacious rooms of contemporary design, each with its own furnished patio bordering on groves of ancient olive trees. The restaurant on the first floor of the main building, with its broad terrace for summer breakfasts and balmy evening dining, is open to non-residents, and you’ll need to book because its refined versions of classic Apulian recipes, enhanced by home-grown extra virgins and paired with the estate wines, are acclaimed in the area. On the plateau just 2 km inland, the masseria affords splendid views towards the coast, and will loan you bicycles to get down to the distinctive Campomarino dunes and the white sandy beaches beyond.