Some of My Favorite Bottles of Primitivo di Manduria Should Be Yours by Philip S. Kampe & Maria Reveley

If you have read my past two articles, you can tell that I have found a wine area that has been off of the radar, Its an area that deserves respect from the wine community.

The wines from this area in Puglia deserve a place in your home. As I mentioned in my last article, if you like Zinfandel, then you willl like Primitivo. They are both from the same clone and have interchangeable names.

Maybe its the concentrated, yet soft fruit that makes this red wine superior. Maybe its the abnormally hot summers that bake the fruit. I don't really know what is is that draws me to this wine, but, like Valpolicella, there is some magnet that pulls me in this wines direction.

Recently the Primitivo di Manduria area created a Consorzio to represent the producers. Its still in its initial stage. According to Director Adriano Pasculli de Angelis, the members are working together to promote their wines to the world and use the Consorzio Di Tutela Primitivo Di Manduria as their voice.

Primitivo was planted in 1981 from eleven clones of the varietal.

The Consorzio's job is to preserve, protect and promote Primitivo di Manduria. My personal job is to help them make a voice in the world.

Above are just a few examples of Primitivo di Manduria that we sampled on the journey in Puglia.

Ask your wine merchant to order any of these wines and you will see why we are fascinated with this clone

Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com  .