2016 Feudo Croce "Imperio" LXXIV Primitivo di Manduria 750 ml

96-Point Italian Zinfandel Twin

Zinfandel fans, think back: When is the last time you tasted a 96-point Zinfandel? Don’t feel bad if the answer is never—just hit buy on the 2016 Feudo Croce "Imperio" LXXIV Primitivo di Manduria, a 96-point Italian Zinfandel twin. California Zin drinkers, we can’t blame you for being steeped in the New World—but this Old World gem is for you. No reason you can’t adore both. $19.99 on cases.

What Burgundy is to Pinot and Chardonnay, what Mosel is to Riesling—that’s what Puglia is to Primitivo, the close genetic cousin of Zinfandel that thrives in the volcanic soils of this southern Italian region. The wines that Primitivo yields are plush, ripe, fantastic with many foods, and outstanding on their own. The Feudo Croce "Imperio" LXXIV Primitivo di Manduria is raised in the vineyards of Manduria, the only Italian wine region to specialize in Primitivo.

This bottling impressed Italian wine authority Luca Maroni to the tune of 96 points, which is even better than it sounds, considering that Maroni’s scale maxes out at 99-points! We recommend a long decant, because this wine is a late bloomer: timid when just opened, but positively bursting with ripe red fruits, spice notes, a note of balsamic, and cocoa after a few hours of aeration.

We can remember our earliest trip across the Adriatic like it was yesterday: Steaming away from Bari, Italy as the sun was setting behind us; spending most of the night on the deck, sipping cheap wine and cheaper beer with other thrifty travelers; finally docking at dawn in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where local families bidded against one another in order to earn a few kuna lodging tourists in their spare rooms.

We didn’t know it then, but we had traveled a viticulturaly fateful route: More than two centuries earlier, the grape Crljenak Kaštelanski had traveled that same course, in the opposite direction—someone had brought it from Croatia to Puglia, Italy. It was in Italy in the late 18th century that a priest noticed the variety’s tendency to ripen earlier than other grapes. So he named it thus: Crljenak Kaštelanski, on the western side of the Adriatic, became Primitivo.

DNA testing has revealed that Italy’s Primitivo and California’s Zinfandel are both genetically identical to that ancient Croatian variety, a fact that has inspired lovers of Zin to cozy up to Primitivo. That international interest has, in turn, elevated the quality of Italian Primitivo.

Needless to say, Zinfandel fans are the big winners here. Puglia represents Primitivo’s Old World home, and Manduria is the only Italian region that specializes in the grape. Here in the western part of the Salento peninsula (the front of Italy’s bootheel), Adriatic and Ionian breezes cool the vines, which, down in this baking part of Italy, receive all the sunshine they can handle. The result is a wine of richness with a refreshing bolt of energy. This is a wine for all seasons: A case will be your winter warmer, and it will transition beautifully to grilling season—if you pace yourself. At $19.99 for a 96-pointer, we know that might not be in the cards.