2005 Cantele, Primitivo, Salento IGT ($11.04 U.S.). Alcohol level: 13.5%. From what we can find out the Salento region is in the southern part of Puglia.
The wine gives you a blackish red color to the eye. Black cherries and ripe plums greet the nose and tongue tip. There is more rich stone fruit amid spice and some pepper in the middle, and there is good acidity and soft mouth feel. There is more spice and some floral tones in the long finish.
We matched it with some very questionable rib eyes from a source I’m ashamed to admit. Fortunately true love dished up a shitake and reconstituted Italian mushroom dish with onion, garlic, sherry, and spices that she heaped onto of these quarter inch wonders. We also had a side of pasta in the Omaha tradition and a lovely salad. The wine was a huge help in salvaging this dinner.
