9.05.2011

wine of the night: 2007 Hendry Primitivo

The other night I was able to spend one of the last official  days of the summer by enjoying the season's bounty. Pasta loaded with roasted vegetables right from the garden. Better yet, the base sauce was made from tomatoes, also from the garden. It's amazing how food is so much more enjoyable when its grown in  your own garden (or in my case, my family's garden).


I was in the mood for a red wine with this meal so I chose a 2007 Primitivo from Hendry Wines of Napa Valley. I don't have extensive experience with Primitivo, but I do love Zinfandel and the Primitivo grape is similar. In fact, both grapes are genetically identical. Primitivo is slightly different in that the grapes are smaller and the grape bunches are less dense. It is expected that the Zinfandel grape is larger due to selective cloning from California wine makers to produce higher yields. According to the Hendry website, Primitivo is "a lower-tannin, higher fruit-and-acid red wine" compared to Zinfandel.



So how was it? Well, I wished I would have selected a not so fruit forward and heavy wine. It just didn't work with the meal, like a fruit bomb out to destroy the earthy and complex vegetable flavors of my dinner. The wine itself was very good however with nice tannins and lots of fruit flavors to ponder. I 'm excited to drink it again, with dark chocolate, as Hendry suggests. I would also like to compare their Primitivo to their Zinfandel- perhaps a post for another time!

Cheers and Enjoy! Just watch that sneaky 15.2% ABV.


1 comment:

  1. I love a real fruity and tasty wine. I'm going to try this Zinfandel with some dark chocolate like suggested.

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