Synopsis, Our Opinion: We love Zinfandel wine and this was a special treat
Producer/Winery: Lisa Gilbee; Azienda Agricola Morella; Mandurla, Italy.
Grape Variety: Primitovo (Zinfandel).
Geographic Appellation: Salento Primitivo; Puglia, Italy.
Vintage: 2013
Price: $42.30 (with a 10% mixed case discount).
Purchased From: The Caviste Wine Shop; Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Paired With: Pig pickin BBQ pork, baked beans and coleslaw.
Tasting:
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He said: Opened and decanted for one hour. Clear, dark garnet with a light purple rim. Smoky cherry aroma. Silky smooth very light entry, slightly peppery, cherry, current and a touch of blackberry taste. A long finish with firm tannins and tart fruit flavors. A FANTASTIC Zinfandel without the muscular fruit and heaviness of the California sunshine. It was expressive, eloquent, complex, perfected and velvety…not the usual terms used to describe a Zinfandel wine!!! This is a wine every Zinfandel lover “must” drink. Outstanding paired with the BBQ pork, OUTSTANDING drinking alone after the meal and OUTSTANDING with dark Chocolate…and that says it all. We love Zinfandel wine and this was a special treat…and the best part is we have already bought more!!!
Second Tasting: We opened this wine with what we thought was the VERY BEST California Zinfandel we’ve ever had and did a side-by-side tasting and we both couldn’t believe how much different and BETTER this Morella Old Vines was…it puts Zinfandel into the “fine wine” category. This Morella Old Vines rekindles our believe that Zinfandel can be a memorable wine. This is VERY SPECIAL and clearly goes to the very top of our all-time best Zinfandel list. I simply don’t know what else I can say, we think this is CAPTIVATING Zinfandel!!!
Special Note: This wine was selected as the most MEMORABLE WINE OF 2017 and it totally blew us away. We like Zinfandel and drink many examples from around the world each year, but when we tasted the Morella Old Vines Primitivo 2013 paired with North Carolina BBQ pork it really set a new high standard for wine made from Zinfandel grapes. Out of all the wines we drank in 2017 this is the most unforgettable!!!
She said: Opaque, dark ruby red color with well spaced rapidly moving legs. I love Zinfandel’s and have had many wonderful bottles, but I have to admit in this case the Italians have lifted Zinfandel to a whole new level. Granted the nose was not powerful, but the flavors and the mouth feel were very special. With a dark cherry flavor that was not overpowering the wine contained a smoothness that’s incomparable with domestic Zinfandel. The tannins were less firm than most Zinfandels, but edgy enough to give definition and character to the wine. The finish was long and had great flavor accompanied by a burst of tart tannins at the end. Delicious with the pork, the wine would probably be equally good with a red meat dinner without being “in-your-face” as some California Zinfandel tends to be. I sit here writing and hoping for a miracle that my glass of this wonderful wine will be refilled, but alas we have emptied the bottle. This was a memorable wine and a real treat at $40.
Photo from Morella.
See also our review of Morella Primitivo Malbek 2014, Morella La Signora Primitivo 2013, Morella Terre Rosse Primitivo Negroamaro 2010 and Morella Mezzogiorno Salento Bianco 2013.
Alcohol Content: 15%
Closure: Cork.
UPC Code: 0 24606 36276 6
Imported by: Piedmont Wine Imports; Durham, North Carolina.