I am running out of excuses to give wifey about wine purchases. I awake to a(nother) text alerting wifey and I that a wine package is on its way for one of us to sign. I should have placed the phone on silent. SO, now the free wine excuse is off the list.(such a good one too)
2016 Prima Materia - Primitivo
Initial PnP (lasted about 45 min)
Color: Garnet/purpling with light purple-pink edges. (Eyes are tired)
Nose: Muted red fruits that smells like a Zin but tighter. Slight candied fruits after opening up.
Taste: Sour red fruit. Cranberry. Raspberry. Orange peel mid palate followed by some noticeable bitterness of black tea. Nice acidity.
Finish: I get some tannins that grip to the taste of black tea (a little confusing unless youāre a tea drinker) Medium finish. Dry.
Wifey noted: nose was alcohol, craisin taste, pruney, bitter tea at finish.
12 hours later
Nose: bright red fruits, a slight candied note.
Taste: raspberry and cranberries. The bitterness of the black tea is rounded into a jammy component. A lot of bitterness still.
Finish and Impressions: Medium finish and dry. It paired wonderfully with a fig and prosciutto wood fired pizza. I also had it with a margarita pizza and it played with the basil, concluding that foods with sweet notes offset the dry jammyness that wasnāt working for me. Somewhat consistent notes from PnP.
15 hours later
Color: Garnet, more hazy than I thought initially. Light pink to clear edges.
Nose: Red fruits, that tightness I was talking about earlier has softened out.
Taste: More raspberry than the cranberry note. Slightly Jammy. A lot smoother.
Finish: Fine tannins. The black tea bitterness mellowed out a lot and is now softer on the palate. Medium dry finish.
Overall Impressions
This wine is a old world approach with a new world feel IMO. I initially was not liking it on its own; When I found the right foods to pair it with and gave it some time, it presented itself nicely. I have no experience with the Primitivo grape and am very glad I was given this opportunity to broaden my spectrum. If this deal came with other varietals and it falls in the price range that I feel is right, then I might consider grabbing a pack. I know two people who would like this bottle more than I did. By the way, the labels on these wines are pretty rad.
@TechnoViking Am I the only one noticing the ā12 hours laterā part and wondering when ādrinking in the morning when the sun is upā became passable for adults? ā¦because sign me the hell up for that!
@corrado haha. I originally had more written disclaiming hypothetical nights and hours. I work odd hours. PnP 8am Saturday. Finishing noon on Sunday? Idk, what day is it?
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Prima Materia Primitivo - $40 = 22.21%
Even though I b*tch about it the lack of shipping to me is probably a good thing. House going on the market this spring and I really donāt need more boxes
I also wanted to add that we tried this with our recent purchase of Laura Michael Wines 2013 Napa Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel. I know itās not Primitivo, and Iām not stomping on anyoneās grapes. We liked the Prima Materia Primitivo much more. At this case price I am very tempted. Iām willing to do a split here in Las Vegas. If notā¦ Iāll grab a pack with a coupon.
@TechnoViking Iiiiiinteresting. Since i got the four pack of the Oat Hill too, mind sharing your notes? Over in the āwhat are you drinkingā is fine to keep this conversation about the Primitivo.
@TechnoViking Itās pretty darn close to the same thing as Zinfandel. Interesting that you liked this over the Laura Michael offering. Iām very tempted by this, but we are moving in the next couple of weeks and I already have WAY too much wine to store. The silver lining is that Iām drinking a ton of great juice over the holidays!
@PLSemenza@rpstrong hmmmā¦I just searched email and didnāt receive the coupon, either. I was already VMP and a $60 Kickstarter backer, too. Maybe it didnāt go out to everyone??? I buy quite a bit of wine on casemates, so maybe they know Iāll continue buying without it.
@PLSemenza@TimW The Sekrit Kode was VMPINOT, and it is good through the end of the month. Wouldnāt hurt to give it a try - your email (if any) may have been lost.
Red fruits of raspberry maceration, pepper, smoke, tea leaf. Soft, fine-grained tannin with characteristic low acidity. No new oak.
Primitivo is closely r elated to Zinfandel, descending from the same Croatian parents and migrating to Puglia in Southern Italy while Zinfandel migrated across the ocean to the United States. The vines and fruit look very similar, though Primitivo clusters tend to ripen a little earlier (it is usually the second of fourteen different grapes we pick) and are a little smaller than Zinfandelās. What I find interesting is that Primitivo has all the crushed red fruit and velvet berries typical of Zin, but there is a hint black tea and touch of orange that betrays its unique lineage. Beneath the ripe fruit, silky tannin, and soft acidity there is an important layer of brambly, undefinable earthiness that is the hallmark of Primitivo, even here in California. It is a little less bombastic and a bit more subtle or reserved than some Zins, while still being quite juicy and hedonistically true to the approachable 2016 vintage.
Vineyard and Winemaking Notes
One of our first vines planted in 1999 and then another block in 2004. Both are clone 02 on St. George rootstocks. The blocks are trained differently and planted in different orientations. California sprawl and quadrilateral training.
Grown at 1450ā elevation on red, obsidian-strewn soil resulting from Mt. Konoctiās volcanic upheaval, our Primitivo combines 2 vineyard blocks with the hope of finding dignified Primitivo-ness in the land of Zinfandel.
All blocks hand harvested 9/17/16 and fermented separately in stainless and bins. Fermentation lasted 17 days. Wood-basket pressed at dryness. No sulfur added for 10 months, bottled at 14 months.
Vintage
Despite a dangerously early bud break, vintage 2016 was almost boring. A bit of early-season shatter and rain occurred but summer was pretty moderate and the fourth year of drought left just enough rain to support the average-size crop. August was quite gentle after a few heat spikes, as was September. It was almost boring compared to super short 2015 and super difficult 2017.
Label Image
Contemporary artist Bill Gian has been a friend of Prima Materiaās for some time, and we were excited when he offered his āBlack Poppyā painting to use. Much of Gianās art explores his Greek-American heritage, and it felt like a worthy match to Crljenak Kastelankiās own cultural identity inquiries, both past and present. Also, the black poppy is quite metal, with links to sleep, death, and Morpheusā binary world of dreams as child of Nyx.
Specifications
Vintage: 2016
100% Primitivo
Estate Bottled
100% fermented in stainless, wood basket pressed
Yield: 3.5 tons per acre
10 neutral 225l barrels used for aging, mostly thin stave French and Hungarian oak
no racking until bottling, lees stirred once at 6 months to knock down fruit
Prima Materia Winery grows grapes and crafts wine and food with an Old World voice that celebrates uncommon grapes and their unique histories here in California and abroad.
Prima Materia is the product of two decades spent in vineyards, wineries, and cooking in restaurant kitchens that ranged from Michelin starred to hamburger consulting. I planted most of Prima Materiaās grapes at 1,450ā of elevation in Lake Countyās red volcanic soils, and every bottle hopes to capture a distinctive, Old-World inflected voice in harmony with Californiaās vast and evolving wine history. Prima Materia is a bottom-up adventure that begins with digging holes, pounding stakes, and constant time spent in the vineyard. I am proud to work within an ancient agricultural tradition, and that vast, sometimes cyclical history is a central part of Prima Materiaās story and trajectory.
The wines are crafted in criminally small batches of two to ten barrels each. The winemaking and grape growing are intensively hands-on and sustainable, using stems and time, gravity and buckets, rather than fancy impersonal machinery or mechanized processes. Prima Materiaās wines are unsulfured for much of their lives, allowing them to evolve as living things and new oak is rarely used. The wines are unfined, unfiltered, hand harvested, and hand bottled.
The alchemical theme of Prima Materia is significant both in the vague sense of food and wine alchemy, or the alchemy of agriculture and growth, but also in the Jungian idea of alchemy being the interaction between between us and the world we are exploring, both internal and external. Alchemy in this sense is the bold-yet-humble pursuit of knowledge through wonder, the natural and the personal, and uncovering hidden essences so that eventually art and craft might one day meet.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, ID, IA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Thanks for the tasting notes - Old world/New world is pretty accurate with a bit of that rustic tannin. It is pretty darn young still, so decanting or letting breath is definitely a good approachā¦ Cheers!
@PrimaMateria When I saw 2016, I reluctantly opened it for science. Nearing the last glass, I wish I had more. What would you say the drinking window is for this?
@TechnoViking Sorry - sent reply to wrong place! The Primitivo is just starting to come around. We get some extra tannin due to
altitude plus a little bit of stem gives a bit of Burgundian aging curve
along with a long gentle fermentation. Iād say 5 years aging is fine and it will smooth
out over the next year. Thanks!
I do feel somewhat special that of the very few ship-to states, MI is still in there. AND it can be my downfall. Iāve purchased so many ādealsā this month, Iām full up! I DO love the artwork on label and now I love the Alchemy song too.
I am running out of excuses to give wifey about wine purchases. I awake to a(nother) text alerting wifey and I that a wine package is on its way for one of us to sign. I should have placed the phone on silent. SO, now the free wine excuse is off the list.(such a good one too)
2016 Prima Materia - Primitivo
Initial PnP (lasted about 45 min)
Color: Garnet/purpling with light purple-pink edges. (Eyes are tired)
Nose: Muted red fruits that smells like a Zin but tighter. Slight candied fruits after opening up.
Taste: Sour red fruit. Cranberry. Raspberry. Orange peel mid palate followed by some noticeable bitterness of black tea. Nice acidity.
Finish: I get some tannins that grip to the taste of black tea (a little confusing unless youāre a tea drinker) Medium finish. Dry.
Wifey noted: nose was alcohol, craisin taste, pruney, bitter tea at finish.
12 hours later
Nose: bright red fruits, a slight candied note.
Taste: raspberry and cranberries. The bitterness of the black tea is rounded into a jammy component. A lot of bitterness still.
Finish and Impressions: Medium finish and dry. It paired wonderfully with a fig and prosciutto wood fired pizza. I also had it with a margarita pizza and it played with the basil, concluding that foods with sweet notes offset the dry jammyness that wasnāt working for me. Somewhat consistent notes from PnP.
15 hours later
Color: Garnet, more hazy than I thought initially. Light pink to clear edges.
Nose: Red fruits, that tightness I was talking about earlier has softened out.
Taste: More raspberry than the cranberry note. Slightly Jammy. A lot smoother.
Finish: Fine tannins. The black tea bitterness mellowed out a lot and is now softer on the palate. Medium dry finish.
Overall Impressions
This wine is a old world approach with a new world feel IMO. I initially was not liking it on its own; When I found the right foods to pair it with and gave it some time, it presented itself nicely. I have no experience with the Primitivo grape and am very glad I was given this opportunity to broaden my spectrum. If this deal came with other varietals and it falls in the price range that I feel is right, then I might consider grabbing a pack. I know two people who would like this bottle more than I did. By the way, the labels on these wines are pretty rad.
@TechnoViking Am I the only one noticing the ā12 hours laterā part and wondering when ādrinking in the morning when the sun is upā became passable for adults? ā¦because sign me the hell up for that!
@corrado haha. I originally had more written disclaiming hypothetical nights and hours. I work odd hours. PnP 8am Saturday. Finishing noon on Sunday? Idk, what day is it?
Prima Materia Primitivo
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $139.99 $11.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2016 Prima Materia Primitivo
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Prima Materia Primitivo - $40 = 22.21%
No PA?! Damn!
Even though I b*tch about it the lack of shipping to me is probably a good thing. House going on the market this spring and I really donāt need more boxes
@kaolis I have the same plans (retiring to Missouri). Where are you headed?
@Mark_L Majority of the time South Carolina with a bit of Wisconsin mixed in when the dew point is 80 and the humidity is 94% down south
I also wanted to add that we tried this with our recent purchase of Laura Michael Wines 2013 Napa Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel. I know itās not Primitivo, and Iām not stomping on anyoneās grapes. We liked the Prima Materia Primitivo much more. At this case price I am very tempted. Iām willing to do a split here in Las Vegas. If notā¦ Iāll grab a pack with a coupon.
@TechnoViking Iiiiiinteresting. Since i got the four pack of the Oat Hill too, mind sharing your notes? Over in the āwhat are you drinkingā is fine to keep this conversation about the Primitivo.
@TechnoViking Itās pretty darn close to the same thing as Zinfandel. Interesting that you liked this over the Laura Michael offering. Iām very tempted by this, but we are moving in the next couple of weeks and I already have WAY too much wine to store. The silver lining is that Iām drinking a ton of great juice over the holidays!
Came from Mediocre on Dec-12th, maybe it depended on the amount of $$$$ Kickstarted??
@PLSemenza More specifically, from:
with a subject line of:
I doubt if it was $$$ based, as I only anted up the $60 minimum. But I was already a VMP member.
@PLSemenza @rpstrong hmmmā¦I just searched email and didnāt receive the coupon, either. I was already VMP and a $60 Kickstarter backer, too. Maybe it didnāt go out to everyone??? I buy quite a bit of wine on casemates, so maybe they know Iāll continue buying without it.
@PLSemenza @TimW The Sekrit Kode was VMPINOT, and it is good through the end of the month. Wouldnāt hurt to give it a try - your email (if any) may have been lost.
@PLSemenza @rpstrong Thank you! Now itās a race to find something interesting by end of month.
Wtf canāt ship to GA? Every other casemates wine has been fine
@afwaller also I never got a coupon code so that makes me feel twice as sad
Tasting Notes
Red fruits of raspberry maceration, pepper, smoke, tea leaf. Soft, fine-grained tannin with characteristic low acidity. No new oak.
Primitivo is closely r elated to Zinfandel, descending from the same Croatian parents and migrating to Puglia in Southern Italy while Zinfandel migrated across the ocean to the United States. The vines and fruit look very similar, though Primitivo clusters tend to ripen a little earlier (it is usually the second of fourteen different grapes we pick) and are a little smaller than Zinfandelās. What I find interesting is that Primitivo has all the crushed red fruit and velvet berries typical of Zin, but there is a hint black tea and touch of orange that betrays its unique lineage. Beneath the ripe fruit, silky tannin, and soft acidity there is an important layer of brambly, undefinable earthiness that is the hallmark of Primitivo, even here in California. It is a little less bombastic and a bit more subtle or reserved than some Zins, while still being quite juicy and hedonistically true to the approachable 2016 vintage.
Vineyard and Winemaking Notes
One of our first vines planted in 1999 and then another block in 2004. Both are clone 02 on St. George rootstocks. The blocks are trained differently and planted in different orientations. California sprawl and quadrilateral training.
Grown at 1450ā elevation on red, obsidian-strewn soil resulting from Mt. Konoctiās volcanic upheaval, our Primitivo combines 2 vineyard blocks with the hope of finding dignified Primitivo-ness in the land of Zinfandel.
All blocks hand harvested 9/17/16 and fermented separately in stainless and bins. Fermentation lasted 17 days. Wood-basket pressed at dryness. No sulfur added for 10 months, bottled at 14 months.
Vintage
Despite a dangerously early bud break, vintage 2016 was almost boring. A bit of early-season shatter and rain occurred but summer was pretty moderate and the fourth year of drought left just enough rain to support the average-size crop. August was quite gentle after a few heat spikes, as was September. It was almost boring compared to super short 2015 and super difficult 2017.
Label Image
Contemporary artist Bill Gian has been a friend of Prima Materiaās for some time, and we were excited when he offered his āBlack Poppyā painting to use. Much of Gianās art explores his Greek-American heritage, and it felt like a worthy match to Crljenak Kastelankiās own cultural identity inquiries, both past and present. Also, the black poppy is quite metal, with links to sleep, death, and Morpheusā binary world of dreams as child of Nyx.
Specifications
Price Comparison
$312/case (including shipping) at Prima Materia
About The Winery
Winery: Prima Materia
Prima Materia Winery grows grapes and crafts wine and food with an Old World voice that celebrates uncommon grapes and their unique histories here in California and abroad.
Prima Materia is the product of two decades spent in vineyards, wineries, and cooking in restaurant kitchens that ranged from Michelin starred to hamburger consulting. I planted most of Prima Materiaās grapes at 1,450ā of elevation in Lake Countyās red volcanic soils, and every bottle hopes to capture a distinctive, Old-World inflected voice in harmony with Californiaās vast and evolving wine history. Prima Materia is a bottom-up adventure that begins with digging holes, pounding stakes, and constant time spent in the vineyard. I am proud to work within an ancient agricultural tradition, and that vast, sometimes cyclical history is a central part of Prima Materiaās story and trajectory.
The wines are crafted in criminally small batches of two to ten barrels each. The winemaking and grape growing are intensively hands-on and sustainable, using stems and time, gravity and buckets, rather than fancy impersonal machinery or mechanized processes. Prima Materiaās wines are unsulfured for much of their lives, allowing them to evolve as living things and new oak is rarely used. The wines are unfined, unfiltered, hand harvested, and hand bottled.
The alchemical theme of Prima Materia is significant both in the vague sense of food and wine alchemy, or the alchemy of agriculture and growth, but also in the Jungian idea of alchemy being the interaction between between us and the world we are exploring, both internal and external. Alchemy in this sense is the bold-yet-humble pursuit of knowledge through wonder, the natural and the personal, and uncovering hidden essences so that eventually art and craft might one day meet.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, ID, IA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, January 10th - Monday, January 14th
Still no NJā¦ Isn it because you sent me a coupon that expires soon?
Love a good Primitivo, I have no room, so tempted to just go for 4, but might as well grab a case at this price. And I remembered to use my coupon!
/giphy sliced-foxy-wood
Thanks for the tasting notes - Old world/New world is pretty accurate with a bit of that rustic tannin. It is pretty darn young still, so decanting or letting breath is definitely a good approachā¦ Cheers!
@PrimaMateria When I saw 2016, I reluctantly opened it for science. Nearing the last glass, I wish I had more. What would you say the drinking window is for this?
@TechnoViking Sorry - sent reply to wrong place! The Primitivo is just starting to come around. We get some extra tannin due to
altitude plus a little bit of stem gives a bit of Burgundian aging curve
along with a long gentle fermentation. Iād say 5 years aging is fine and it will smooth
out over the next year. Thanks!
Why does everyone but me have a coupon?!
@coryczorna It is from being a VMP, I believe.
@coryczorna
FYI itās for āVMP - membersā came in our email.
Kickstarterās were grandfathered into VMP.
@PLSemenza @KCountry Ah, I see. Iām a casemates member (free shipping) but I guess thatās not the same thing.
What coupon? Iām am VMP - member. I havenāt see it
@kimmieee
VMP/Kickstarter here as well without a coupon. Fād again. lol
I do feel somewhat special that of the very few ship-to states, MI is still in there. AND it can be my downfall. Iāve purchased so many ādealsā this month, Iām full up! I DO love the artwork on label and now I love the Alchemy song too.