Passitivo Primitivo Puglia IGT

I’ve had the distinct privilege of spending time in Apulia, friends of ours own and operate a winery in Apulia. When my wife and I went to Apulia, I made the mistake of flying into Rome and renting a car and driving. I’m not sure what I looked at when I went to map quest to see how far a drive it was, I thought it was about a four-hour drive. It ended up taking us about eight hours to arrive in Apulia, just outside of Lecce. Our final destination was Porto Cesario, located on the Ionian Sea. Our friends own a beach house and graciously let us stay there during our visit. The weather in southern Italy in the fall is still quite warm, we were thinking of fall in New England and really weren’t dressed appropriately for the fall heat. The temperature was still in the eighties during the day. This was a pleasant surprise and one that we enjoyed immensely.

We spent time touring the winery on our second day, which included a visit to the vineyards. We had to arrive around ten in the morning, if we wanted to get to spend time with the pickers and watch the harvest in action. We were informed that by noon the heat was too oppressive to keep picking. One of my first observations was that all the pickers were locals, in many regions of Italy; foreigners are brought in for the harvest. The second observation was the camaraderie everyone had that was involved in the harvest. It was obvious that the same people helped with the harvest year in and year out. One of the other things I noticed was the age of the pickers; they were all my parents’ age. I’m sure they all worked for the money, yet I sensed an immense pride in the workers.

When you visit Apulia, or anywhere in southern Italy, the first thing you notice is how few people speak English. The second thing you notice is the lack of tourists, finally you notice how much cheaper it is to visit the area and just how unspoiled the area is. It’s almost like a journey back in time. There is so much land dedicated to farming, there is a constant sense of hustle and bustle going on, tractors are everywhere and working farms are in abundance. I really enjoyed traveling around observing the day-to-day activity of the many coop farms. There were communal crush houses, where local grape growers would make the trek to with their wagons of just picked grapes and wait in line for their turn to have their grapes crushed for their own small wine production.

I was fascinated by the sheer number of small producers who didn’t have their own wineries, yet were still producing wines in small quantities, of which I’m sure was all consumed locally. It was great to buy local red wines for about five euro a magnum. I never had a wine I didn’t enjoy, or a wine that didn’t pair well with my dinner. One of my favorite local grapes was primitivo, a grape comparable to zinfandel. There are numerous local grapes, producing all different varieties of wines. I think my affinity to primitivo is because my dad always talked about how his father always made his own zinfandel. My grandfather was from southern Italy originally.

I’ve recently discovered Passitivo Primitivo Puglia IGT, produced at a small winery in Apulia called Paolo Leo. What caught my attention to this wine was the method in which it was produced. The wine is produced utilizing the appassimento method; this is where a percentage of the grapes are dried in aerated lofts in small crates at a constant humidity and at a controlled temperature. The dried grapes are vinified separate from the grapes that are not dried. After the separate vinification of the grapes, the blending takes place, typically utilizing about thirty percent of the “appassito” wine and seventy percent of the regularly vinified wine. In addition, some of the previous vintage’s wine is added to the final blend.

The result is an intense ruby colored wine with a bouquet of cherries and raspberries, very pleasing to the palate. The wine is full-bodied, well balanced and has a long silky finish. This wine will pair well with roasted red meats, mature cheeses and hearty pasta dishes. We are currently in the process of bringing in this wine for our October wine special. We plan on launching the wine after Columbus Day weekend. When you dine at Varano’s this fall, treat yourself to a unique wine and create a new wine experience for you and your friends. I know what I’ll be drinking this fall. Finally, one last hint, watch for our Chef’s fall menu changes. We’ll be launching them alongside our wine of the month. Steve has some great new specials for the fall. A perfect time of year for hearty Italian fare, and a great glass of wine.

Dick Varano