BARSENTO | il Paturno | Puglia | Primitivo | 2018
primitivo

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Today we are also going to review a single-varietal primitivo wine from Puglia wine region – il Paturno Puglia Primitivo 2018 by Cantine Barsento. Primitivo (also known as Zinfandel in the USA) has been thought to be native to Puglia, but it actually hails from Croatia (Dalmatia), where it is called Tribidrag. In the last century it was noted that Zinfandel and Primitivo were very similar. The more researchers looked at them, the more similarities emerged, thus DNA analysis removed any doubt – the two varieties were genetically identical. More than that, further DNA analysis revealed that both varieties are identical to a croatian variety called Crljenak Kastelanski, which raised the question: which variety is the oldest and which name was the correct one. In 2011 an even older croatian variety, called Tribidrag, was found to be genetically identical, therefore the consensus was that this is the prime name. As it turns out the names Primitivo and Tribidrag are both derived from words meaning ‘early‘ in latin and croatian respectively, which reflects the yearly-ripening characteristic the grape variety. This particular wine has been aged for 6 months in stainless steel tanks and another 6 months in the bottle, in order to preserve as much as possible the purity of fruit. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: deep & opaque ruby color
clarity: clear ruby  shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & expressive
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits
__black fruits: black plum | black cherry | blackcurrant | casis | dried black plum | blackberry | aronia
__blue fruits: blueberry | blue plum | honeyberry
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | savory | earthy
__spice: liquorice | nutmeg | cloves | anise
__savory: leather
__earthy: black soil
primary layer: fruit

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol
body: firm | full body

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: overripe
non fruit: spice
finish: long
aftertaste: bitter-seedy

//Scoring
BARSENTO | il Paturno | Puglia | Primitivo | 2018
variety: primitivo
country: Italy
region: Puglia
rating: 93.9

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 3 to 5 years
verdict: great | a must try wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Italy and, with a total of 93.9 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a very fine primitivo wine: firm, ripe and tannic – a wine that is still developing, thus one that has the potential to age for a further 3 to 5 years in the bottle. The wine feels heady, bold and extracted, with elevated acidity, grippy tannins and quite a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel. On the nose the wine delivers an explosion of overripe and dried black fruits in the foreground, followed by a very nuanced spicy background, with a subtle layer of earthy-leathery notes in between. All in all, this is an expressive,  fruit-forward and seedy wine, with a very appealing mouthfeel and a pleasantly seedy aftertaste. What this wine lacks today is maybe some finesse and elegance on the palate, as it still has some of that youthful angularity in there. That said, our recommendation would be to drink sooner rather than later and enjoy it in its full flamboyance. Saluti!

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© The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.