I snapped this bottle up during a recent trip out to Everything Wine in North Vancouver (BC’s largest wine shop). I thoroughly explored every shelf to find something interesting, yet still reasonably priced, and found this 1997 Primitivo di Manduria DOC “Terrarossa” from producer Vinicola Savese run by the Pichierri family (not much English on that site) for $30.

Primitivo di Manduria is an demarcated zone in the Italian heel province of Puglia, where the wines are made from 100% Primitivo - a genetic relative of California’s Zinfandel. Primitivo lends itself to plush wines with dark fruit, soft tannins, high alcohol, and often herbaceous or black olive characters. Puglia has some of the bright red iron-rich clay soils also prevalent in Australia’s Coonawarra region, hence the name “Terrarossa.” I tasted the Pichierri Primitivo di Manduria DOC “Tradizione del Nonno” (Grandfather’s Tradition) a while back at Boneta, and was blown away by how hedonistic it was - a rich monster carrying 16.5% alcohol, some obvious sweetness, but quite delicous (in a miniture Port kind of way). Judging by the intensity of the “Tradizione del Nonno,” I figured the “Terrarossa” would have the structure to improve with 12 years of aging.

Pichierri ‘97 Primitivo di Manduria DOC “Terrarossa”

The nose is very intriguing and showing some age developing qualities - black cherry, brown sugar, cedar and spice with a slight green herb. Also fairly reminiscent of LBV Port - deep purple fruit and wood. Very soft texture with faint tannins on the palate expressing flavours of dried fruit, cola, and black licorice. The finish falls quite flat. The nose is interesting but the palate comes across a little tired; for me this wine has unfortunately passed its prime and is not worth the $30.

I also have a bottle of the ‘05 “Tradizione del Nonno” kicking around which I’m dying to open, so I’ll post what I thought about it soon. There’s a rack in the corner of the Kingsgate BCLDB store with about 10 or so bottles marked down to $20 where it seems to be $30 everywhere else.

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