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Neil and Maria Empson have been selecting Italy's finest wines for over thirty-six years. In February 2007, they were joined by their daughter, Tara Smeralda, fresh from her studies and a course in wine tasting at the Associazione Italiana Sommeliers. Exactly one year later, the family visited some friends in the Salento peninsula, the southernmost portion of Puglia and Italy's easternmost area. Here is a land of geographic and cultural extremes and dramatic beauty stretching out between two seas. The Empsons fell in love with the dazzling, colorful landscape, lush, dark red soil bathed in Mediterranean sunlight and constantly windswept by the salty air currents of the Adriatic and Ionian seas. This amazing palette of colors and sensations nurtures superb old vineyards and native varieties. When the Empsons tasted the silky, seductive, structured reds crafted by the winemakers at Matan? they were instantly taken. They had to bring this wine back to the states to share. When Neil & Maria began pioneering Italy's fine wine exports, the Italian potential had barely been recognized, much less explored. Today, something very like that pioneering spirit has inspired Matan?. Our Primitivo from Matan? is a classic old work grape with new world character. The grape itself is one of the few that is not indigenous to Italy. It was actually first cultivated in Croatia where it is known as Plavic Mali, a thick-skinned dark and imposing grape. The wine is not for the faint of palate. The origins of Primitivo have just become known in the last few years. We know that our own California Zinfandel is the same grape. But we always assumed that it came from Italy, which it did. But what we didn't know is that it did not originate there, but in Croatia. The grapes are grown 330 feet above sea level near the Adriatic. The vines are packed into the vineyard at an unheard of density for California. A typical California vineyard would claim 500 to 750 vines per acre. Matan? plants in excess of 2,000 vines per acre. There is little rainfall here so the grapes must compete for the little moisture and nutrients in the soil. This is what builds the character and dense flavors that make this wine a must for your cellar. February 2009 Vintners Series Newsletter (.pdf) |
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