The story of wine-making, the other economic pillar of the Land of Otranto, is very similar to the path of olive oil factories. The wine industry lived - between the modern age and the the first half of the eighties of the past century - periods of growth, deep crises and attempts to recover. Nowadays we have a specialized and excellent production, thanks to “enlightened” winemakers and wine producers who, with their keen eye on brand-new techniques of cultivation and transformation, made a high-quality product to guarantee a forward-looking project based on the sense of belonging and true love towards their homeland.
The same happened with olive oil production, since during the modern age the local wine industry aimed at making high-quality products to compete in the market.
As a consequence, this sector hasn’t been hit by the crisis of 1873 - on the contrary, it witnessed a growth in demand and prices, especially in France. The French market, however, needed a semifinished product, that is to say wines destined to enrich other wines, produced with specific features and remarkable alcoholic strength. These features came from the peculiar natural conditions of the Land of Otranto: in fact, that region of Salento was only marginally damaged by the phylloxera, a scary disease that affected the vineyards and caused - in several nations and in France in particular – the complete destruction of the plants.