Michele Biancardi, Primitivo Puro, IGT Puglia, 2025

Here’s the full tasting note for...

Michele Biancardi, Primitivo Puro, IGT Puglia, 2025

suggests with masses of red fruit on the nose. The palate has damson and blackberry notes, sweet spice and notes of dried flowers. The ripeness of the fruit gives the impression of sweetness, but the finish is dry (and the technical sheet shows just 4 g/l residual sugar). This is a very grown up, incredibly well made Primitivo that adventurous cooks can pair with everything from oxtail stew to beef rendang. Now-2028

Finding the right partner in Puglia has pre-occupied us for many years. It’s one of those regions where there’s little space between enormous, industrial scale wineries and over-priced “boutique” cellars. We sought out Michele Biancardi because the wines were written up as offering exceptional value in the useful Italian Slow Wine guide. His 9 hectares of organically cultivated vines lie near Cerignola, in the north-western sector of Puglia. He chooses to focus on local grapes only: Fiano (and the rare Minutolo) for whites; Primitivo and Nero di Troia for reds. What distinguishes these wines is a stimulating purity of fruit and moderate alcohol levels - in a very hot region where so many reds in particular are raisiny, coarse and over-alcoholic.