A Moment In The Past Foretells A Second Chance Of Living The Wine Dream

Although Romina Leopardi’s warmth and her love for life projects that she is Italian through and through, her accent, which is not so easy to pinpoint, hints at a much more multicultural background. Romina was born and partially raised in Adelaide, Australia by a first-generation Italian father and an Australian mother. When she was a child, her father decided to travel back to Italy for the first time in 35 years and he was overcome with emotion when his large Italian family had several parties and gatherings to celebrate his long awaited visit. When he came back to Australia he told his family (Romina, her mother and her brothers) that they were packing up and moving to Italy.

One of the first things that Romina’s father wanted to do was to bring his kids to a little piece of land that he still owned in Italy where they would learn how to harvest grapes in the vineyard. “I remember him giving us a basket and a pair of scissors and he left us in the vineyards to harvest”, Romina explained, thinking back. She noted that she had never experienced anything else that came close to that moment up to that point in her life, when it came to spending all day in the vineyards, hands covered with soil, as she eventually watched the sun go down. “And when I think of me now I connect to that moment in the past”, Romina said with a beaming smile.

Initially Romina spent her adult working life involved in education as a trainer of teachers until she met Luigi Rubino. By the time Romina and Luigi met they had both been divorced and each of them knew that if they had ever had a romantic partnership again it would be based on a lifestyle that was shared.

Tenute Rubino

Luigi Rubino owns the winery, Tenute Rubino, in the province of Brindisi in Puglia, Italy, which was started in 1999 by Luigi’s father; the winery includes over 1200 acres of land with almost 500 acres devoted to fine wine production that was first purchased by the Rubino family in the 1980s. Despite Susumaniello being a highly productive vine in youth, it significantly decreases its yield by 45% once it hits the still youthful age of ten years old, according to Luigi. For this reason, Susumaniello was considered a less than desirable grape that was only planted in small quantities in Puglia and blended away in bulk wine. Yet Luigi and his father saw its potential, especially when the vines are over a decade old as this is the “key” to unlocking its high quality.

Tenute Rubino cultivates various Puglia native grape varieties yet they have a strong focus on making small production, ultra premium Susumaniello with their flagship wine ‘Torre Testa’. It is a wine that is only made in the best vintages and it is planted on their Jaddico estate that runs along the Adriatic Sea. It is the only estate out of their five where they grow Susumaniello because Luigi states the sandy soil, proximity to the sea (good aeration and swings in temperatures) as well as the salt that is deposited on the grapes’ skins makes for a “very interesting” wine. There is no literature to be found on where and how to grow Susumaniello and so it has been a process of trial and error for Tenute Rubino.

Partnership of Romina and Luigi

Romina was introduced to Luigi in 2004 and she was taken by his passion, his plans and his dreams and through time she left her previous job to start working with him to help cultivate those dreams into a reality. “I became his first consultant and vice versa and it happened so spontaneously and so naturally” Romina described how they first came together. Today, they are married with a young son and they are true partners in the mission of unlocking the potential of Puglia’s indigenous grapes. And not only do they make a high-end oaked Susumaniello built for age with their ‘Torre Testa’ but they also make an unoaked fruit-driven style called ‘Oltremé’, a rosé (rosato) and serious, traditional sparkling method rosé wines that all come from the same single vineyard near the sea. Romina and Luigi’s enologist observed that their Susumaniello would make a great sparkling wine when harvested early and so they made their first sparkling vintage in 2013 and it has been quite a success; remarkable to think that Susumaniello is one of the few red grapes that is versatile enough to make a serious red, a delicate rosé and a world class traditional sparkling wine; Pinot Noir being one of the others that come to mind.

Today Romina uses her previous work experience as an educator to train their employees as well as go around the world teaching importers and buyers about their wines and she is great at her job as she inspires and elevates those she teaches; so in a way her previous life has made her better prepared to succeed at the life she was meant to live.

That Moment in the Past

It is interesting to think back to those moments as children that brought a great sense of joy and tranquility such as a little Romina gazing at the sunset after a hard yet satisfying day of harvesting grapes. It never dawned on her that there could be a place for her in the wine world… until she met Luigi and then it all came together. Perhaps that moment is lurking in the back of the minds of all who seem to be burnt out and unmotivated in life, perhaps that moment is just waiting to be triggered for every single person who seems lost midway through life. Today Romina couldn’t be happier living a life that she at one time could have never imagined.

2018 Tenute Rubino, ‘Giancòla’, Bianco (White): 100% Malvasia Bianca from 42 year old vines with no oak. Luigi exclaimed this as one of the longest lived Malvasia Bianca wines from his region and that he was a big believer in its longevity as he said that the 2006 and 2007 vintages were still fresh. Rich stone fruit flavor intermixed with floral notes with a textural component that had a hint of zingy citrus rind and a stony minerality on the finish.

2015 Tenute Rubino, ‘Sumaré’, Metodo Classico Sparkling Rosato (Rosé) Brut: 100% Susumaniello and aged on lees for 30 months. This traditional sparkling, as well as the 2014 that followed it, were the biggest surprises of the tasting as it was elegant with delicate strawberry flavors, baking spice and a saline minerality that expressed itself with finesse along the fine bubbles.

2014 Tenute Rubino, ‘Sumaré’, Metodo Classico Sparkling Rosato (Rosé) Brut Nature: 100% Susumaniello and aged on lees for 42 months. This longer lived Brut Nature had more brioche notes with bright acidity accompanying cranberry flavors with a good amount of flesh to balance the lively mousse.

2019 Tenute Rubino, ‘Torre Testa’, Susumaniello, Rosato (Rosé): 100% Susumaniello. A rosé that balanced fruit and minerality nicely; wet stones from the beginning with ripe strawberries and juicy tangerine with a round, crisp finish.

2018 Tenute Rubino, ‘Oltremé’, Susumaniello, Rosso (Red): 100% Susumaniello. The ‘Oltremé’ is the unoaked, fruit forward version of Tenute Rubino’s Susumaniello red. Generous black cherry and cassis fruit that had a plush mid-palate with a hint of dusty earth.

2016 Tenute Rubino, ‘Torre Testa’, Susumaniello, Rosso (Red): 100% Susumaniello. The ‘Torre Testa’ red Susumaniello is only made during the best vintages and it is named after the ancient tower that is built in the middle of their seaside vineyard for the Susumaniello. A seamless balance between richness of black fruit with a strong sense of place that includes gravelly mineral notes with a fine-textured structure that gives lift and drive to the finish.

2010 Tenute Rubino, ‘Torre Testa’, Susumaniello, Rosso (Red): 100% Susumaniello. The ‘Torre Testa’ red is one of the last grapes harvested if they decide it is a good vintage for the wine. In 2010 they delayed harvest for around two to three weeks to experiment if it would create a better wine as Susumaniello is a late-ripening grape yet in Luigi’s opinion, he felt they harvested too late. But it is still a delicious wine with blackberry syrup and dark chocolate flavors with silky tannins.

2004 Tenute Rubino, ‘Torre Testa’, Susumaniello, Rosso (Red): 100% Susumaniello. This wine was singing with a multitude of complex notes such as fresh leather, cigar box and sweet tobacco with an uplifting note of mint on the finish with more of an ethereal quality than the other wines.

2003 Tenute Rubino, ‘Torre Testa’, Susumaniello, Rosso (Red): 100% Susumaniello. An enticing smoldering earthy note with underlying hints of espresso and cocoa powder with still a buoyant energy that indicated this wine would still have a long life.