2022 Primitivo Reserve
I love Primitivo! It’s such an exceptional tasting wine, powerful yet refined with rich textures. This 2022 Reserve Primitivo expresses endless red fruits, balanced with a serious play of oak and upfront acidity. The aromas are clean and persistent, displaying prune, black cherry, hints of blueberry, and a decisive taste of ripe fig. The Petite Sirah adds to this wine’s longevity, giving it lasting structure and a puckering finish. Spice and floral notes are there too. It’s easy to pick up black olive, eucalyptus leaf, and oregano. Hold onto this one, it will only get better with age, reaching its peak in 2030.
All grapes were processed, destemmed, fermented, pressed, and aged at Sculpterra Winery. A portion of the wine was fermented in a tank and NEW 500L Puncheon barrels. I selected “3001 yeast” for its ability to enhance a variety character, and “Premium Zinfandel yeast” for its inherited quality of expressing jammy notes. We were extra gentle with this wine and racked just one time post Malo-lactic fermentation. The barrel program for this wine is incredible, ten of these thirteen barrels were new Minnesota Thin Stave American Oak barrels. These special Radoux barrels impart notes of caramel, molasses, and honey nutcracker. Thin stave barrels are perfect for short-aged wines, more oxygen comes in contact with the wine during its 14 months of aging. These barrels made the wine more approachable and more mature tasting upon release in 2024.
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Varietal | Primitivo |
| Varietal Composition | 92% Primitivo, 8% Petite Sirah |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | Frankel Family Estate, Rafael Jimenez |
| Acid | 0.64 g/100 ml |
| PH | 3.60 |
| Residual Sugar | 0.03 g/100ml |
| Alcohol | 15.80% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 12/13/2023 |
| Cases Produced | 420 |
| Country of Origin | UNITED STATES |
| State of Origin | California |
2022 was a distinctive vintage because the grapes achieved full ripeness by early September. Typically, we harvest Primitivo in October, but the incredibly hot summer of 2022 ripened the fruit 2 weeks earlier than usual. In fact, this was the earliest Primitivo harvest we have had since 2010! The grapes were VERY sweet, resulting in wines with a fuller mouthfeel, bright fruit flavors, and higher finished alcohol. One drawback of 2022 was a light and sparse crop therefore, we made less wine in 2022. The Primitivo vineyard sits atop the Frankel Family Estate in the steeply sloped soils of “Ridgeline” block. The vineyard features limestone outcroppings, well-drained soils, and extensive summer sunlight on its western canopy.
