This is the kind of red wine you can drink with a spoon. The 2012 Primitivo di Manduria Riserva Elegia is a barrique-aged super wine with so much ripe fruit and exotic spice, it tastes bitter. The wine is dark and super extracted in appearance. The bouquet is loaded tight with prune, dark plum and blackberry preserves. The mouthfeel is large in width, but it shows shorter persistence than you may initially expect.

Dark and jammy, with spicy notes of cassis and linzer torte layered with mocha, cinnamon and leather flavors that lead to a broad finish. Drink now. 2,000 cases made. -BS