New Italian discovery – Polvanera Primitivo

Polvanera “14”, £11.99 a bottle
Exclusive parcel, ‘Green Leaf’

Filippo Cassano in his Primitivo vineyard

Every Thursday morning the Adnams wine team tastes a range of products that have arrived over the preceeding week. We taste wine most of the time, around 40 bottles each week, although recently we have been delving into spirits. We are expanding our spirits range to celebrate the arrival of our very own Copperhouse spirits (have a look at our blog for more details).

During a recent tasting we sampled the Polvanera ’14′ Primitivo from the Murge Hills in Puglia. It was a moment when the whole team ooed and aaahed and came to the same verdict… delicious! I contacted the winemaker, Filippo Cassano, immediately and a small parcel got underway from Italy, the first time he’s exported to the UK. Intrigued by the wine and the man who makes it, I decided to stop off at Polvanera during my Italian trip.

“Dense damson and plum aromas with silky, ripe blackberries on the palate. Beautifully uncluttered with pure fruit and softly structured tannins.”

Puglia is the most fertile agricultural area in Italy thanks in part to the mineral-laden soils and warm, dry air from the Balkans which enables healthy growing conditions. Wine production has varied over the years with some areas concentrating on bulk production and a much smaller number focused on regional varieties and quality wines. Filippo Cassano certainly falls into the latter category. He started his winemaking career at the tender age of 12 and graduated 6 years later. He purchased his first vineyards ten years ago and whilst everyone else seemed to be planting Cabernet, he was determined to create wines with indigenous varieties such as Primitivo.

Filippo tasting Polvanera

It is Primitivo vines that have produced the fruit for the Polvenara ’14′. Filippo has now expanded his vineyards and purchased some old vine Primitivo to compliment his younger vines. Throughout the past decade he has farmed his land using organic principles and his vineyards have been certified as organic from 2008.

Filippo’s view on winemaking is simple; minimal intervention, just like his viticultural practices. He never employs oak in any of his wines, and as a result he gains wonderful pure, concentrated fruit flavours. His wines are also carefully aged in his cellars, which are dug out of the limestone and terra rossa soils to deliver perfect conditions for ageing. His ’14′ spends 20 months in tank then a further 8 months in bottle. 2007 was a very hot and dry vintage, producing low yields and wines of superb concentration. Whilst at 14% abv the wine has balance of fruit and tannins and a real freshness.

Filippo recommends pouring the wine into a glass five minutes before enjoying, this will really get the aromas flying. I would recommend having two glasses, as you wont be able to wait five minutes for the second glass!

Try our ‘Taste of Primitivo‘ Case
Mixed case, 4 bottles of each of the wines below for £110

Polvanera 14 £11.99 – New and exclusive parcel
Pure and elegant Primitivo from a tiny producer in the Murge Hills, Puglia. Unoaked, highly concentrated and wonderfully balanced.

Primitivo de Puglia, A Mano £8.50 – Blockbuster oaked Primitivo from Puglia
Mark Shannon and Elvezia Sbalchiero fell in love with Puglia after making wines all over the world. Their focus is to combine the intrinsic quality of old vine Primitivo with oak, to produce a real blockbuster. Spicy, smoky with liquorice notes and plenty of red berry fruit. A beautifully contrasting style to the Polvanera.

Scotto Old Vines Zinfandel £9.99 – The American version of Primitivo
Old vine Zinfandel from Lodi, the place for award winning Zinfandel in California. Intense, lively black cherry fruit and a hint of pepper thanks to a dash of Syrah.

Click here to buy the 12-bottle case £110

At the time of our visit, the Primitivo vines were just starting to ripen