Big and flabby, far more aligned with late-model CA zinfandel than I care for. This could have been produced in Paso Robles. Still and dire, bereft of any bright fruit or distinct possibility, a musty brown in the glass and a boring, ridiculously hi-alc nuance in both nose, mouthfeel, and frontal lobe. Harsh tannin bring this definably into the *vodka & prune-juice* window of appreciation. Perhaps it was designed for the American market? This thing is tired, over-wraught and stupid, completely unlike any of Castello Monachi’s other primitivos I have tasted.
2013 CASTELLO MONACHI Primitivo ‘Artas’ Salento Italy 16.5
Stephen McConnell 