This is a great example of Primitivo from the Salento, or the southern tip of Puglia. The 2013 Primitivo is a dark and luscious wine with sweet fruit tones and plenty of spice at the back. The wine is sticky and sweet in places, but all that ripe fruit serves it well. There is a note of jammy fruit that helps to establish that soft and yielding personalty that is so often associated with Primitivo. Conti Zecca delivers yet another terrific entry-level value wine for informal drinking moments.

Showing great balance and intensity, the 2012 Primitivo is a modern and sweet expression of one of Puglia's most prolific and popular red grapes. The bouquet reveals dark cherry, chocolate and candied almond. The cherry tones are definitely in center stage. There isn't a great amount of complexity, but the wine delivers plush fruit flavors and soft tannins that would pair next to lasagna or other oven-roasted pasta dishes.

Here’s a hardy, meaty interpretation of Primitivo with thick aromas of tobacco, leather, earth and blackberry. It has ripe, mature notes of black fruit and berry and offers succulence and power on the close.——M.L.(11/1/2008)—— 87