the primitivo

Historical traces would indicate the ancient homeland of Primitivo in the region that was once called Illiria and which today corresponds to Croatia and Montenegro. It is believed that Primitivo was brought to Puglia between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by Slav refugees, called Schiavoni, or Greco-Albanian people fleeing Ottoman persecutions. In fact, before being called “Primativo” at the end of the 700s this grape preexisted in Apulian vineyards under the name “Zagarese.” The one who first selected it and gave it the name we know today was the Gioia del Colle priest Don Filippo Francesco Indellicati, a botany enthusiast. He planted it in contrada Terzi and baptized it Primativo for the early ripening of the grapes. The excellent enological results favored its widespread diffusion, especially in the 1800s, across the countryside, particularly in the Murgia barese and Tarantino. The fundamental characteristics of the Primitivo wine from the Murgia area are: the beauty of the color ranging from intense purplish, to ruby and garnet with evolution; the clear and fresh aromatic expression of red and black fruits and of aromatic herbs with hints of spice; the powerful taste, but particularly elegant due to the velvety tannin and pronounced notes of freshness and minerality. These characteristics make the Primitivo di Gioia del Colle surprisingly long-lived.