Layer Cake, Primitivo 2007 $17

Puglia, Italy

I first tried this wine in a local Italian restaurant. I was so happy to see it was only double retail pricing vs. so many restaurants at 3 times retail. Therefore, I didn’t waste time to find the wine for my own home enjoyment. World Market had it for $16.99 on sale so I scooped up a few bottles.

Without going into too much detail, Primitivo is the same grape as Zinfandel. So if you like red Zinfandel wines, you’ll like this one. The aromas brought out ripe strawberries and plum with a hint of mocha and spice. With the taste, I found blackberries and plum along with mid palette flavors of dark chocolate. On the finish flavors of pepper, oak and a hint of minerals rounded out this medium body wine. As the wine remained in my glass throughout the tasting, it definitely tamed the tannins to open up and become a smooth drinking selection.

I’m a big fan of red Zins and this really was wonderful pick to write about. I know Layer Cake has a few other varietals however I haven’t had the pleasure to try them. If the others are anything like the Primitivo, then we shouldn’t be disappointed.