San Marzano I Tratturi Primitivo 2023
£10.75
The wine
Intense aromas of ripe prune and dark cherry are complemented by hints of savoury spice, rosemary and a whisper of vanilla. Full bodied yet soft on the palate, with a balanced structure and approachable tannins leading to a smooth finish.
I Tratturi are the ancient drove roads along which shepherds moved flocks between the mountains of Abruzzo and the plains of Puglia, some of them in continuous use since Roman times. The wine is drawn from across the wider Puglia appellation rather than Salento alone, and is made in stainless steel for immediate, unencumbered fruit.
The producer
San Marzano
View all San Marzano winesIn 1962 nineteen growers in the village of San Marzano pooled their vineyards and founded a cooperative. More than sixty years later it draws on over 1,200 growers across Salento and the Manduria hills, and has become one of the most professional and forward-thinking houses in southern Italy.
The real asset is the old vines. Much of Puglia is still planted to alberello, the free-standing bush training the Greeks brought to the region, in which each vine stands alone without wires or posts. It cannot be machine harvested and it crops very little, but the fruit it gives is concentrated in a way trellised vines rarely match. Some of the plots behind Sessantanni and Anniversario 62 are well past sixty years old, and the names say exactly that.
The range is built on the three native reds of the heel of Italy: Primitivo, genetically identical to Zinfandel; Negroamaro, whose name means roughly black and bitter; and the near-forgotten Susumaniello. Passion and competence are the stated bywords, and the run of awards suggests they are more than a slogan.
