www.morellavini.it 

An Australian by birth and a Roseworthy graduate, work originally took Lisa Gilbee to Puglia but it was love that made her stay.  Lisa and her husband, Gaetano, now dry-farm 7 hectares of 75 year old, unirrigated, bush-trained Primitivo a few kilometres south-west of Manduria.  The age of the vines, the iron-rich soils and the cooling breeze from the Med all temper the sweltering Puglian summer and although it tips the scales at more than 15% the Old Vine cuvée sacrifices nothing in terms of complexity or acidity.

The Gobelet training dictates a manual harvest and the grapes are not crushed prior to their introduction to small, shallow fermenters where the must stays on the skins for a week at 30°C with frequent hand-plunging.  About 65% of the press wine from a traditional basket press is added back before ageing in 50% new, 300L French oak for 15 months.  The wine is racked, usually four times, but neither fined nor filtered.  The 2007 is her strongest effort to date with masses of prune and blackcurrant on the nose.

Last year Lisa released a ‘baby’ Primitivo and we snapped it up immediately.  The fruit for the Stella Morella is bought-in rather than sourced from their own vineyards but Lisa chooses carefully and vinifies in much the same way as the Grand Vin.

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