2007 Primitivo

Jacuzzi Family Vineyards’ Primitivo comes from a beautiful hillside vineyard located on the north side of Clear Lake near Clear Lake Oaks. This region is known for producing some of the finest Primitivo in California. Grapes are planted in porous volcanic rock on a steep hillside.

Primitivo is handpicked and de-stemmed without crushing. This very gentle process minimizes the pick-up of bitter components from the skins and seeds. Grapes, with seeds and skins mostly intact, are pumped to one of our temperature controlled stainless steel fermenting tanks and are inoculated with a pure strain of wine yeast. As fermentation progresses, the bright, crisp flavors of this varietal begin to emerge. The juice is tasted daily and once the desired tannin level is achieved it is “pressed” off the skins in our low-pressure “tank presses”. The wine, now free of skins and seeds, is settled and then racked to American Oak (approximately 30% is new) for 11 months.

The wine is deep ruby red in color with concentrated cherry character flavors and nuances of truffles and roasted coffee. Try it with pepperoni pizza, blackened ahi, roast duck or grilled spicy Italian sausage.