1999 Santera Primitivo di Manduria

[wondersofwine]

From Is-Wine in NYC. Italian DOC wine--if I read the label correctly it is from an agricultural cooperative. 14% alcohol by volume.
Purple red color with some translucency. Nose of dark fruits and whiff of cedar.
Taste of dark plumskins, dark berries, and cedar.
Some drying tannins on the finish--lengthy finish.
Pleasant to drink with stuffed green peppers one night and salisbury steak the next. Could see it with pizza or burgers treated with steak sauce or Worchestershire sauce.
It's similarlities to CA zinfandel? Not too pronouced as far as I could tell. Nice in a different way.

[ShortWiner]

Had a bottle of this a few weeks ago and thought it was great. I had written down Leone di Castris as the producer but remember I was somewhat confused by the label, so I could easily have it wrong. Which is it, Thomas? [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/confused.gif[/img]

[Thomas]

I still have trouble deciding who is the producer and who is the other guy or the other name on Italian labels, they have myriad names of people, places, and companies.

Leone di Castris is the producer name behind the product. Santera is--I think--the vineyard designation. Maybe Fabio knows better.

As for its relationship to Zinfandel, alluded to but not agreed to by WOW, each time I drink the wine I get a new fruit sensation, and when the raspberry one comes at me, I think Zinfandel.

[ShortWiner]

I was struck by the raspberries too. There's a bit of earthiness in this wine that I've never found in a California Zin, though.

[Thomas]

That is because you are too young to remember the Louis Martini, Sebastiani and other Zinfandels of the nineteen sixties and seventies. They spoiled me against the rather big, port-like Z that dominates today.

[scimmiatinit]

Primitivo di Manduria Santera
Tipologia: Rosso D.O.C.
Vitigni: Primitivo 100%
Titolo alcolometrico: 14%
Produttore: Leone de Castris
Prezzo: € 7,10 (bottiglia da 750 ml)

Ciao
Fabio

[Thomas]

Thanks again, Fabio. As for that 14% alcohol, the wine's balance handles it quite well.