Gianfranco Fino “ES” Salento Primitivo Red Wine

Description

Bouquet: broad and complex, plum, black cherry and small wild red fruits. Then it’s up to the balsamic notes, chocolate and sweet tobacco, carob and, finally, licorice. A full-bodied wine, soft and rich in noble tannins, with a finish that gives notes of cocoa and ripe fruit.

Food pairing: red meats, game, succulent first courses.

Alcohol by volume: 16.5%

This benchmark eponymous Pugliese estate was only founded in 2004 by Gianfranco Fino, a man hugely respected in the region. Starting with just three hectares of vines in Manduria, the domaine has now expanded to an impressive 37 hectares. Gianfranco allows the grapes to concentrate on the vines before picking them by hand while conducting a very careful selection. The result are powerful, intense wines that also have a sense of terroir. They’re as good as Primitivo gets. The most exceptional part of Gianfranco Fino’s wines lies in the exemplary balance between structure, alcohol content, acidity and flavour that make them remarkable and of great substance: in two words, great wines. Today, Gianfranco Fino’s vineyards, located in the countryside of Manduria and Sava, are small, fragmented plots of land with red soil and rocky cliffs. The vines generally consist of very old saplings, alongside the recent planting of an experimental vineyard. Primitivo Es certainly represents an excellence not only in its production but also in the Apulian panorama: a wine that has certainly bridged the regional production gap of past decades.