Winemaker Notes
The 2021 Porcospino Primitivo offer notes of black tea, dark plum and wild sage that waft from the glass followed by sarsaparilla, cracked pepper, granite on the palate. A fresh, layered, and complete wine.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sour cherries, rose petals, spice, and sandalwood notes all emerge from the 2021 Primitivo Porcospino, a medium to full-bodied, ripe, nicely textured Primitivo that’s all from the Northridge Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope. Brought up in neutral French oak, it’s balanced, has fine tannins, and has outstanding length.
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James Suckling
This has a fresh and wild nose of licorice, thyme, beetroot, cherries and some charcuterie. Nicely savory and fresh, with a medium to full body and gently stemmy tannins. Tasty primitivo.
Loved for its inky, brambly, fruit-driven wines, the Primitivo grape actually has Croatian origin. Primitivo landed in Italy in the late 1800s and became an important variety in the hot, dry, southern region of Puglia. Here it was named from the Latin word, primativus, meaning "first to ripen." Somm Secret—No one knew Primitivo and Zinfandel were the same until 1994 when DNA profiling at UC Davis finally revealed the link. The grape goes by the name of Tribidrag in Croatia and is a parent to Plavac Mali.
Distinguished by a broad, south-exposed, uniform slope and landlocked by the Columbia River to its south and Saddle Mountains to its north, the Wahluke Slope AVA of Washington holds 15% of the total vine acreage of the state and takes its name from the Native American word for “watering place.”
Incidentally the Wahluke Slope AVA has one of the hottest and driest climates of the state so irrigation is not only essential, but also allows complete grower control of vine vigor. On top of its arid and warm environment, strong summer winds blow across this broad slope and ensure both smaller leaf size and grape clusters. The result is top quality wines with great concentration, phenolic ripeness, body and depth of flavor.
Vineyards cover the AVA from 425 to 1,480 feet along the slope. Its deep soils of wind-blown alluvium and sand with a depth, on average, of more than 5 feet along the continuous grade allow optimal drainage for the vines.
Thriving varieties include Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.
Merlots are rich in sweet, ripe cherry, red currant, raspberry and cocoa. Syrahs tend to express black and blue fruit along with savory notes. Wahluke Cabernets are rich in stewed red and black berries.