Counts Zecca’ family is rooted for centuries in Salento and is the protagonist of the Apulian wine, proposed in a contemporary key. It all started in 1580 when the Neapolitan Francesco Antonio Zecca moved to Leverano in the heart of Salento and started an intense commercial activity selling grapes and wine from Puglia to the rest of Europe. Thanks to the benefits of this activity to protect the local economy, the Zecca family obtained the noble title at the end of the 19th century, soon recognized by the Kingdom of Italy. During the 1900s, production activities were perfected with the construction of a new cellar and the modern history of the winery began with the bottling of wine with Conti Zecca own labels. Even today, the business is in the hands of the Zecca family.
The territory in which the owned vineyards extend is Salento: the southernmost part of Puglia, bathed by two seas, the Ionian and the Adriatic. Salento is a flat mainly clayey land but also with the presence of limestone and red soil. It is a well-reputed cultivation areas of olives and vines, present since ancient times.
In 4 centuries the Zecca family has been able to explore and deepen the potential of the Salento area of ​​which today it is an authoritative interpreter through 4 estates: Cantalupi, Donna Marzia, Saraceno, Santo Stefano. Conti Zecca winery uses only its own grapes and has complete control of the entire production chain from the cultivation of the land to the marketing of the wines. Without preconceptions and without excluding the possibility of also cultivating international varieties, much attention has always been paid to enhancing local vine varieties starting with Negroamaro, Primitivo and Malvasia Nera. The management of the 320 hectares of vineyards follows integrated and precision agriculture, which are aimed at reducing treatments to the bare minimum in favor of environmental sustainability. A part of the vineyards is managed with organic farming criteria and the others are in conversion. Conti Zecca produces 2.8 million wine bottles a year.