Wines of Salento, Paololeo takes over the Candido winery

M&A in Salento wine. Cantine Paololeo of San Donaci has taken over another brand from the same town: the Candido winery. With this new acquisition, the project of Paolo Leo, founder of Cantine Paololeo, to invest in the Apulian territory, preserving important legacies rather than founding new companies, is enriched. After Alture, a project in Valle d'Itria that has enabled a small group of winegrowers to maintain their business by guaranteeing them continuity in the purchase of grapes for the production of the area's iconic wines, and the recovery of the ancient social wine cellar of Monteparano, which employs some 150 small-scale winegrowers, the purchase of Candido preserves a splendid winery in Salento founded in 1929 and linked to the work of four generations.

'We are from San Donaci and our heart is here,' explains Paolo Leo. 'To be able to acquire a winery that is part of the history of our town and that I have always admired is a source of pride and honour for me. We will preserve this heritage in a respectful and careful manner. We will maintain and enhance wine production, but we will also make it a place dedicated to wine tourism. The splendid location will become a place for wine knowledge and for the promotion of San Donaci and the Salento region in general'.

Wine tourism is in fact a constantly growing sector for the Salento area. With over 4 million presences a year, it represents an extraordinary driving force for making an extraordinary territory known to the world. A growth that is also driving the demand for wine in the Salento, today one of the most important wine-growing areas in Italy.

Paololeo's commitment will be to renew the identity of the Candido winery while maintaining the flagship wines. "Cappello di Prete, Duca D'Aragona and Immensum will continue to be the flagship wines," adds Paololeo oenologist Nicola Leo. "They are wines that have contributed to writing the history of Apulian oenology and we want to continue to enhance them, combining the strength of tradition with an innovative and conscious vision of the present.

The acquisition will be an accelerator of the already excellent performance of Cantine Paololeo in recent years. In 2023, in fact, the company recorded a turnover of EUR 22 million with 4 million bottles produced, in 2024 turnover rose to EUR 23 million with 5 million bottles, and in 2025 the forecast, also thanks to Candido's contribution, is to reach EUR 25 million (a result that would be equivalent to 8.5% growth on the previous year's turnover) with 5, 5 million bottles produced.