Primitivo di Manduria Dop Passo del Cardinale 2018 - Paolo Leo

Color: intense ruby ​​red.

Bouquet: pronounced bouquet of black berry fruits, mainly cassis and black currant, with notes of licorice and coconut.

Taste: it has an important and balanced mouth center, with velvety tannins, a right acidity and a persistent finish of forest fruit jam and spices.

Food matches: important first courses based on red sauces, meat sauce and roasts; seasoned cheeses with intense flavors, wild mushrooms and game.

Primitivo is an ancient grape variety grown in Puglia, whose grapes ripen very precociously compared to other varieties, which explains its name. A very interesting peculiarity of Primitivo is the fact that, only 20 days after the harvest, these vines are able to give a moderate second production of grapes. Traditionally, the fruits of this "second harvest" are used to increase the freshness of these powerful wines, improving the acidity of the grapes obtained from the first harvest

TRAINING SYSTEM: traditional 40-year-old Apulian sapling, with short pruning, with spurs at duegemme

SOIL: sandy

DENSITY OF PLANT AND YIELD: from 4000 to 4500 plants per hectare, with yields of about 0.75 kg of grapes per plant

GRAPE HARVEST: The harvest is done in the early hours of dawn, avoiding high temperatures and preserving freshness and aromaticity

VINIFICATION: The grapes are de-stemmed and fermented in steel at a controlled temperature of 25 ° C for 8-10 days. The maceration on the skins lasts 15-18 days to maximize the delicate extraction of tannins and flavors

MATURATION: 3 months in American oak barriques and 6 months in steel

CALORIE: 98 kcal / 100 ml

Paolo Leo

Paolo Leo, born in 1960, was born into a family where making wine was an inevitable legacy; the progenitor began at the beginning of the twentieth century to vinify his grapes in Masseria Monticello, then it was his son Paolo Leo who inherited the land and built the millstone in the town. And today he is still an heir, the homonymous Paolo Leo, Nicola's son, to guide the new winery, together with his wife Roberta, to his eldest sons Nicola and Stefano who pave the way for the younger brothers Francesco and Alessandro The family is proud of all the awards received but, as Paolo recalls - "Our primary relationship is that with the land and with our customers, we have shown that in Puglia there was the possibility of producing quality wines, internationally recognized, which could show elegance and finesse while always maintaining the original character. "(Paolo Leo) The management of the company is familiar but supported by faithful collaborators, which makes total work sharing possible. The rich assortment offered includes wines in which the young winemaker Nicola Leo expresses all his passion. They are real creations with which his adventure began; wines that reflect his passion, his tastes, his philosophy and which highlight the fabulous potential of the owned vineyards located in the heart of the Negroamaro Park. “Wine must excite and satisfy, it is the result of the fusion between soil, stock, climate and man. This combination, which apparently resembles a mathematical formula, is called into question every day, only respect for nature and the passion for noble work allow us to obtain the same result every time "(Nicola Leo)