A Mano Primitivo Puglia IGT 2007

Winemaker's Notes:

A Mano Primitivo was first made in 1998. Mark Shannon and Elvezia Sbalchiero, the duo behind A Mano, have worked in the wine business for most of their lives. Elvezia is a northern Italian wine-marketing expert and Mark is a Californian winemaker. They knew right from the start that they wanted their wine to be a concentrated, dark coloured, full-bodied wine made from Primitivo. The grapes for this wine come from vineyards in the heart of the Primitivo growing region, located in the low hills east of Taranto in Puglia. The region is an old sea bed, full of fossils of clams, oysters and urchins. The altitude is approximately 30-60 meters above sea level and annual rainfall is 35 centimeters. The climate is classically Mediterranean as Puglia is a peninsula between the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. The Primitivo vines are quite old; most are the original plantings after phylloxera and range from 70 to 100 years old. As with most vineyards planted at that time they are small bush vines called “alberello” which are non-irrigated and low yielding. The average Primitivo vineyard is quite small, less than half a hectare (1 acre) and the best sites have a crumbly, dark reddish brown soil that resembles instant coffee. On the nose the 2007 has plenty of ripe raspberry aromas with touches of toasty oak. On the palate it is full bodied with ripe, blackberry, blueberry and raspberry fruit flavours and a hint of sweet, toasted oak. The finish is soft and long with elegant, rounded tannins.