Es Red Primitivo Salento IGT 2019 - Gianfranco Fino

Gianfranco Fino is an agronomist and oenologist and worked intensively on olive growing for a long time. In particular, he advised larger farms in Apulia. We also got to know each other through olive oil. But Gianfranco recently became the owner of a small but very special vineyard: These are vines that were planted in the first half of the last century, using the old cultivation system, the Alberello, and even before mechanization took hold in the vineyard. So all the vine work is carried out manually to this day, because the vines are not lined up and down but more as if by chance, sometimes tighter so that a machine could not even move in them. The first harvest only yielded around 3000 bottles, but Fino went on, found other old, small plots, always planted with Primitivo, so that his friends, who at times began to doubt his sanity, gave him the nickname “Geriatro del Primitivo”. For winemakers, this means handwork from A to Z. And Gianfranco takes it very carefully, especially when thinning the grapes, because the vineyard should not have to yield more than 1.5 to 1.8 dl per m2. Production has now grown to ten thousand bottles, including the later addition of Negroamaro Jo. The Primitivo Es is extremely dense, a type of naturally concentrated amarone with, depending on the vintage, between 16.5 and 18° alcohol. Not for every day, but a beguiling end after a big meal and in good company. Because despite this high alcoholic content, it never seems cumbersome and enjoying it always remains exciting.