Morella‘s primitivo is called “La Signora” (the Lady) and she speaks about her history and her land each time you meet her. #vinoumano met Lisa Gilbee at the farmers market of the wines of independent winemakers FIVI where to know both the two ladies was a real pleasure.
La Signora (100% primitivo grapes) comes from old bush vines with a elegant reaching, twisted arms, every vine with its own design formed in its long battle with survival. They are testimony to the biodiversity in that area due mainly to the traditional “massali” selection in vineyard practiced over many years.
The winery’s philosophy is to preserve the uniqueness of the old bush vines, recognising the value of these absolutely concentrated grapes. La Signora, is an expression of style and elegance and the same time representative of the typicality of the Primitivo. La Signora vinyards are located between Manduria (province of Taranto, Puglia) and the sea, in a zone of “terra rossa” on a bed of limestone where the medium vine age is 55 years.
As regards tasting notes the color is dark red, the nose is inky, marasco cherry and spicy notes of cloves and ginger. The palate is full with dark cherry and black berry notes, a long finish with persistent minerally tannins.
Winemaking: hand harvested into small boxes. Fermentation in small open vats, with hand plunging and temperature control at 28° C. Traditional basket soft pressing. Matured in new french barriques for 12 months and than in bottle for a minimum of 24 months.
Morella wines are made completely from the grapes produced in their own vineyards, of which, for the most part are old dry grown Primitivo bush vines on terra rossa. They are cultivated by hand using bio-dynamic principals and the yield rarely exceeds 2 tonnes (2.6 hl) per hectare.
