Primitivo di Puglia wine, the White House’s favorite

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«At the White House they drink red wine, Made in Italy. Donald Trump would seem to have stocked up on Primitivo di Puglia wine: as many as 4320 bottles have travelled from our beloved Puglia directly to Washington »

We already knew that Italian wines are among the most appreciated in the world, so much so that here we talked about the most famous ones in the world. But did you know that they had also enchnated the White House? When Nicola Chiaromonte, the owner of Tenuta Chiaromonte, received an order of as many as 720 boxes of 6 bottles of Primitivo wine, he nearly had a stroke! But how did the forty-fifth president of the United States – among other abstemious people (!) – fall in love with the famous Italian wine?
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It all started on the occasion of a wine tasting evening organized in Los Angeles, during which the White House buyer particularly appreciated the red from Puglia, so as to place the exorbitant order the following day. The beauty of 4320 bottles has therefore left the Gioia del Colle area to reach the Trump presidential “cellars”. Two labels, different in structure, Primitivo di Puglia: Mascherone Primitivo IGT Puglia, a simple wine with a low alcohol content, and the super rewarded Sant’Angelo Contrada Barbatto Primitivo Gioia del Colle Doc, a historical company label with an alcohol content of nearly 17 degrees. In short, rivers of Primitivo wine for the first lady and her guests, and who knows that this Made in Italy red does not convince even the president to have a drink? Definitely preferable to his beloved Coca Cola!.

And what do we know about Primitivo di Puglia wine? Let’s discover the history and characteristics of the Italian excellence that has conquered the States!

Primitivo is of a unique red grape variety, which owes its name to the precociousness – compared to all the other Italian vines – of the ripening of its grapes; in fact, it is already harvested at the end of August. Its origins would seem to be Dalmatian – so much so that, even today in Dalmatia varieties similar to Primitivo are grown – and it would have arrive in Italy around 1800. About its origins, did you know that the Primitivo grape was subjected to a DNA test? That’s right. In 1967, in fact, a Californian professor arrived in Puglia and, once he tasted the Primitivo wine, he could not fail to see its similarity with the Zinfandel of California. At that point there was nothing left to do but to reconstruct the history of the vine and establish how it had arrived in America: it was the study of its DNA that established that Zinfandel was brought to America from a collection of Austrian vines. Primitivo and Zinfandel would therefore be brothers, with an almost identical genetic code, separted only by the ocean.

But let’s go back to the beautiful Puglia and talk about Primitivo wine (also because if Trump ordered it there must be a reason, or not?!). Well, if I say “Primitivo” we all think about the very famous Primitivo di Manduria, but in reality the story of this wine is born in the Gioia del Colle area, in the province of Bari. There are two main production areas, both excellent, but with differing characteristics, due to both the production regulations and the areas. The Primitivo produced in the DOC area of ​​Manduria – which includes the provinces of Taranto and Brindisi – is grown on fertile and sandy soils, characterized by a mild climate due to proximity to the sea. The DOC Gioia del Colle is instead grown on the Murgia plateau of Bari, on more clayey soils and with a more Mediterranean climate. As for the production specifications, the Primitivo di Gioia del Colle must be made exclusively with grapes produced in the DOC – therefore in purity – while for Primitivo di Manduria it is allowed to use a percentage of other grapes. And what about the taste?  Both characterized by an intense red color, first to the nose and then on the palate, these wines have different characteristics: that of Manduria has hints of licorice and pepper, and is deep and fruity in the mouth; that of Gioia del Colle has fruity scents – cherry, plum, black cherry – and is warm and enveloping on the palate.

Because of its important structure and natural high alcohol content, Primitivo wine has long been used exclusively as a wine for blending, that is to give vigor and body to structurally weaker wines. In the last decades, however, a greater awareness has developed among the producers of this excellent wine that, thanks to particular production techniques, have succeeded in obtaining wines that are intense, but still elegant and pleasant. Two red wines of great structure then, but at the same time sweet and round on the palate, perfect to be enjoyed in combination with meat, aged cheeses, salami and also grilled fish!

Marcella Scialla

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