Primitivo

We've taken a slight detour today to accomodate a request. While we expected a southwesterly flight across the Atlantic, instead we take a quick jaunt to the southeastern part of Italy ("the heel") on the Adriatic Sea, a long but narrow region known as Puglia. Today's grape of the day is Primitivo. While it's an Italian varietal, through the wonders of DNA testing (I have no idea how DNA testing is done on grapes, but there are plenty of things I have absolutely no idea about), we know that it is genetically the same grape as the American one known as Zinfandel and that both are actually the Croatian grape Crjenak Kastelanski (doesn't that just roll off the tip of your tongue).

As compared to its identical twin in the US, Primitivo suffers from being embedded in Italian DOC law. In its home of Manduria, wines must be at least 14% alcohol by volume (ABV). This puts significant restrictions on vineyard masters and winemakers to control both their crop and fermentation processes.

Where Primitivo has become more popular is when produced in the small town of Gioia del Colle where the laws do not put the same restrictions on production of wines. These are the Primitivos that have been shipped from Italy more and more and have grown a loyal following. There, the grapes tend to produce a dark wine with interesting combinations of black licorice, anise, blackberry, and black pepper. In other words, they have a bit of spice wrapped around natural, but not sugary, sweetness.

Because of this, many find it difficult to pair with food. On the other hand, we are able to pair Primitivo with foods that are difficult to pair with wine. In particular, it's a grape of choice with BBQ (most US styles) and curry dishes.

Tomorrow, we head southeast as planned unless another reader diverts us.

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