2024 Zolla Primitivo di Manduria, Vigneti del Salento

• Style: Bold Southern Italian Red
• Taste: Ripe cherry, blackberry, leather and spice with velvety tannins
• Food: BBQ & Grilled Meats; Stews; Roast Dinners; Lamb
• Occasion: Weeknight; Sunday Lunch
• Serve: 16–18°C, decant 20 mins

In the Glass — Tasting Notes

Ruby with violet-edged depth, this Primitivo opens with intense red cherry and blackberry fruit, layered beneath leather and spice. The tannins are generous yet velvety rather than harsh, building a structure that rewards food and begs for another sip on a warm evening.

The Winery — Vigneti del Salento

Part of the Fantini group, Vigneti del Salento operates two wineries in Taranto province on the western flank of Salento. Winemaker Danilo Gizzi and consultant Filippo Baccalaro — a Piemontese native drawn to Puglia by the region's rich, ripe grape character — have spent nearly two decades perfecting their craft here. The 2024 vintage benefited from a cool spring that delayed budbreak, followed by summer rainfall and northerly sea breezes that kept vines healthy through ripening while yields fell 20% below average, concentrating every berry. Winemaking is restrained: cool maceration over eight to ten days draws colour and tannin, then six to eight months in second and third-use oak softens without masking the fruit. The result expresses both site and Fantini's house style of serious, minimal-intervention winemaking.

At Your Table — Food Pairing & Serving

This is a wine for grilled lamb, charred sausages, and pasta dressed in robust meat ragù—the kind of drinking that justifies its 15% alcohol and leaves you satisfied. Serve at 16–18°C, ideally with 20 minutes' decanting to open the aromatics. Whether it's a weeknight supper or Sunday lunch centrepiece, the Zolla Primitivo pairs beautifully with everything from BBQ and stews to roast dinners and beef. If you're exploring Italy beyond Tuscany and Piedmont, this Primitivo di Manduria is the kind of discovery that rewires your thinking about what the country's heel can produce. Browse our full Italy range to see what else we've uncovered, and discover other Primitivo & Zinfandel wines in our range.