La Masseria Primitivo 2021

Like Il Faggio and Cento Cavalli, La Masseria is made by the Liberty Wines winemaking team at a privately owned modern winery on the Salento peninsula. The brief to the winemakers was simple: a clean, fresh and vibrant Primitivo, both modern and typical of the variety. To get there they selected fruit from the best parcels on the estate, taking it at full ripeness but before shrivelling, since raisined fruit gives harsh tannins and a cooked character. That restraint is the whole argument. Primitivo is genetically identical to Zinfandel and ripens unevenly, with some berries raisining on the bunch while others are still green, so the temptation in a hot region is to pick late and let sugar climb. The result is high alcohol and stewed fruit, which is how much of southern Italy built its reputation and then had to escape it.

A masseria is a fortified farmhouse, the characteristic building of the Puglian countryside, built when the coast was raided from the sea. Salento is the heel of Italy, flat and hot but with sea on three sides, and that maritime exposure is what keeps the nights cool enough for the fruit to hold its aromatics.