This is the most powerful and full-bodied wine among this group of releases from Tenute Rubino. The 2016 Primitivo Visellio is a darkly saturated, powerful and succulent wine. It drives forward with unmistakable momentum thanks to its 15.5% alcoholic content and the sheer texture and fiber of its black fruit. Tobacco, barbecue spice and mesquite make for nice aromatic accents in this faithful friend to steak and potatoes. It ages in barrique for nine months. Some 28,000 bottles were released.

The Tenute Rubino 2013 Primitivo Visellio is a dense and darkly concentrated wine with thick layers of ripe fruit and spice that peel off with slow intensity. The wine is bold and powerful (with 15% alcohol) and enduring flavors of toasted coffee bean, dark fruit, blackberry pie and rum cake. There is plenty of spice and cured tobacco at the back thanks to ten months in barrique. The mouthfeel is characterized by immediate sweetness and jammy fruit flavors.

The 2011 Primitivo Visellio is very sweet and syrupy in personality with candied fruit flavors on the close. The bouquet is disjointed with oddly contrasting tones of Pecorino cheese rind with smoky wood and dried spice. My impression is that the vintage heat has knocked this wine slightly off balance. Chewy tannins and rich, pulpy fruit appear on the close. The wine closes on a very sweet note.

The 2006 Salento Primitivo Visellio is a heady, opulent wine loaded with sweet blackberry jam, minerals, earthiness and French oak. The wine offers notable depth and richness, with a long, satisfying finish. Made in a soft-textured, generous style, this mouth filling red is sure to deliver much pleasure over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2014. I was very impressed with the wines I tasted from Tenute Rubino, a young, promising estate located near Brindisi. These sleek, elegant offerings bode well for the future. Importer: Panebianco LLC, New York, NY; tel. (212) 685-7560