Which Primitivo?

Much has been written about Primitivo, the Italian grape with (they say) a Croatian genealogy and a genetic double in California's own Zinfandel.  The cliché is that Zin is big, alcoholic, rich, a little sweet with residual sugars and susceptible to heavy oaking.  And that Primitivo, its frère and semblable, is the same.  As with all clichés, there's a bit of truth in the statement and the image, but of course the reality is far more interesting and varied.

When you're in Puglia you taste the different versions of Primitivo, some of them big and rustic, some cheap and thin (usually heavily blended with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo), some elegant and balanced.  The latter don't seem to make it to America very often, in part because of the belief that we Yanks only like those big Zin type monster wines.  Obviously we do.  But, when you look at any reasonable restaurant list or at the shelves of a decent wine shop, you know that a wide range of taste profiles, to use a fairly gawky phrase, are being catered to.

So there is indeed a Primitivo for every taste.  The real "problem of the Primitivo" is that the price and the quality are sometimes so wildly off the mark that you wonder if you've hit the Twilight Zone.  A few days ago, without naming names, I related some peculiarities of pricing and self-perception on the part of some producers, and of their respective target markets -- so far as anyone in Puglia seriously considers "target markets." 

I have to say that the garden variety Primitivos I've drunk in the States have been underwhelming. A kind of grapy cough syrup clearly intended to steal Zinfandel drinkers away from their beloved drink.  Which is a ludicrous tactic.  It will never work. 

In my oh so humble opinion Primitivo producers ought to be setting their sights on Nero d'Avola drinkers because that vino has become so expensive relative to its quality and due to the fact that Nero d'Avola isn't always in the bottle as labeled.

Primitivo still has or should have a good price-quality ratio, with a good to very good bottle retailing at about $12-16 or so (New York prices, which are I think a little more competitive than in many places in America). 

The only caveat I have is to try and find out if the Primitivo you get is 100% Primitivo.  A great many of the bottles that are available as "100% Primitivo", both in Italy and the US, are really blends (again, usually with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo).  A lot of producers say, "You have to blend it because it's too difficult to make a really drinkable one in purezza."  This is true if you're not a very good winemaker and can't adequately work with the raw material, the premier grape of your region.  The good winemakers make really wonderful Primitivo with no blending.  It pays to know your producers -- and to be on the outlook for new ones, that is, new to American wine store shelves.

Comments

[Marco]

What are we getting disguised as Nero d'Avola? Can you name producers or would this be dangerous to your health?

[Mike Tommasi]

Terry

I did a recent Zin-Primitivo event here in Provence, and of 6 wines tasted the most balanced was a $10 Seghesio base. The more expensive Zins were unsubtle and big, the Primitivos also. A Negroanmaro was slipped into the lineup, unfortunately at the end (it should have gone first) so we could not really tell but it had something to it. So did the Primitivos, But it did not come together. Each wine has something good about it but was lacking other characteristics.

This is not surprising. I hate to mention France in this context, but experience here shows that southern wines should be blended (see Chateauneuf, Bordeaux, Provence, Languedoc Roussillon, Bandol). No single grape can contribute all the elements of finesse, elegance, structure, acidity etc.. Blending allows you to build your wine with the available components. IT IS A SOUTHERN TRADITION.

Puglia having more or less the same conditions as our Languedoc, despite the difference in latitude, they ought to consider BLENDING.

[Luca Risso]

@Mike
But they do. The most traditional blend in Puglia is the Salice Salentino DOC, Negroamaro AND Malvasia Nera. One other very polpular one is the blending Nero di Troia AND Montepulciano. Primitivo IMHO is just a exception, but consider that in the past it was mostly a sweet or semi-sweet wine, or matter to enrich wines of the north of Italy (and France, indeed).
Luk

[Mike Tommasi]

Hi Luk

I was thinking that Primitivo itself could be blended with some other grapes to make up for some of the shortcomings, for example some carignan for acidity maybe? Or the equivalent local grape. Ot could still be 50-75% Primitivo and keep the name...

[Fredric Koeppel]

i need to get you some zinfandels that are not soaring alcohol, blockbuster, "grapey cough syrup" wines. You keep maligning the grape and the wine, and they're not all like that.

[Richard]

Fred,

Which Zins do you recommend in that regard?

Richard

[Luca Risso]

@Fredric
Let me invert the usual question if a certain european wine is imported in the US.
What good US zin you know is imported in Europe (Italy in my case)?

Luk

[Richard]

Do they import a lot of USA wine to Italy? I have seen very little of it in Ireland and England on previous trips. It must be cheaper to have European wines shipped around Europe, than having American wines shipped into Europe.

[Terry Hughes]

Well, well, my provocation worked. Again!

Most Primitivo is blended, albeit secretly, and the blending grape can be aglianico, merlot, negroamaro, you name it. The Primitivos from the Gioia del Colle DOC are much less fruit bomby than the Primitivo di Manduria...more complex and mineral too.

FK, please change my mind. The experiences I have had, admittedly not that many, have been less than underwhelming.

Richard, I think US wines do OK in the UK and maybe a couple of other countries in Europe. Problem: price-quality ratio. It just ain't there compared to wines from a lot closer like southern France, Spain etc.

Luk, maybe Giovanni has some in Rapallo???

Must run, am touring Montecucco at the moment...of which you will be hearing a great deal more in coming weeks, trust me.

[Marco]

Terry,
Try a bottle Joel Gott zinfandel

[Fredric Koeppel]

Of zinfandels that are pretty widely available in most US markets, try Artezin as a "starter" zin, and then move to Ridge Three Valleys and Ridge Lytton Springs. Others to look for are Frog's Leap, Girard, Sausal Private Reserve and Old Vines, Ravenswood Belloni Vineyard. Harder to find but worth a search are Porter-Bass zinfandel and the Oakville Ranch Field Blend. Look for 2004s and 2005s. The emphasis in these models is on the balance between power and structure and fruit.

[Richard]

I have had and enjoyed Frog's Leap.

[Marco]

FK,
Sausel, I had forgot about it. It's been a while. Excellent Zin. Three Valleys is also a good value. Then you move on up the Ridge ladder.

[David J]

I (mis)educated my palate on Zins in th mid 90's as a reaction against family taste for the mid- to lower end Riojas... I'm loath to diss someone like Rob't Biale or his team who tend to go big but will manage some subtler stuff say, when sourcing cooler area fruit like Monte Rosso.
Couple of Zins I picked up for old times' sake while in CA last year & enjoyed were by the Lolonis family up in Redwood Valley, Mendo Co.
Cheers!