Since 1974, the year the Primitivo di Manduria DOC was recognized, the notoriously wandering Primitivo grape has found its home, laying the foundation for its emergence as an undisputed symbol of viticulture and winemaking in the Puglia region. In this article, we discuss the origins of Primitivo di Manduria, the areas where it is grown, its extraordinary characteristics, the wine made from it, and why it is so important to Cantine San Marzano.

It's extremely difficult to retrace this variety's history from its origins to the present day. Especially now that we've become accustomed to considering Primitivo the quintessential Apulian native grape, there's an increasing desire to speculate on how and when this variety actually arrived in this narrow strip of land. Puglia is, in fact, geographically and historically, a region open to a wide variety of influences, straddling both East and West, a quintessential landing place even before the Mediterranean was called Mare Nostrum.