Welcome to Vinos!

Wine is my new passion… maybe I should say my obsession!

A few month ago a group of us started a wine tasting club. We started with French reds and moved to French whites. In January (prior to lockdown) we were doing Italian and Spanish wines and I’m really looking forward to resuming our wine journey, but for now my husband and I are “tasting” our way through our wine cellar. Does a bottle count as tasting?

Pilates Core Club member, Catherine Walter (WSET level 3), chose a delicious Italian wine, Primitivo di Manduria, to share with us. You can find this wine at Waitrose. It goes on sale from time to time so keep your eyes open to bag a deal! Catherine has kindly shared some tasting notes for you all….

Primitivo di Manduria - Paololeo

Primitivo is a full-bodied wine from the South of Italy in the area known as Puglia on the Adriatic coast of the heel of Italy. The grape variety originated in Croatia and was introduced to Italy in the 1700s.  It eventually found its way across the Atlantic to New England in the 1830s where it was grown in greenhouses as a table grape. 

According to documented evidence, Zinfandel was then taken to California in around 1850 where it has become one of America’s most popular wines. 

With a high level of alcohol (12-14%), Primitivo was originally used as a blending wine to give body and additional alcohol to other Italian wines.  However, in 2002 Zinfandel’s genetic link (DNA) was found to be the Croatian/Italian Primitivo. As a result, Primitivo was introduced as a wine in its own right and although oenophiles quickly learned of its existence, wine enthusiasts are taking longer to discover this smooth and velvety wine, with its intense nose, notes of black fruit, nuances of wild herbs, liquorice and earthy undertones that culminate in a long, satisfying finish.

Primitivo is still not very well known, but it is gradually being added to wine lists in restaurants. In Waitrose or at Mike Smith’s Wine Alley bottles usually retail at around £10 and is proving to be a favourite tipple at dinner parties.