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Cream Wine Company
118 N. Peoria St., 3rd Fl
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 421-1900 tel
(312) 421-1977 fax
service@creamwine.com

Home | Producers | Primo Estate

Primo Estate

www.primoestate.com.au
Joe Grilli
Joe Grilli
Country of Origin: Australia
People: Joe & Dina Grilli, Owners | Joe Grilli & Daniel Zuzolo, Winemakers
Supplier: www.wwhq.com


The story begins in 1953 when Primo Grilli arrived in Australia from the Le Marche wine region of Italy with a vision of growing Italian grape varieties in this sun soaked new land. Recognising the grape growing potential of South Australia, with warm summers and cooling maritime influences similar to his homeland of Le Marche, Primo planted the family's first vineyard in 1973, just north of Adelaide around a small township called Virginia.

Primo's eldest son, Joseph, studied Oenology at South Australia's legendary Roseworthy College. Joe graduated Dux of his class in 1978 and a new winery was built in Virginia. From his very first vintage as winemaker in 1979, aged just 20, Joseph Grilli sought to create revolutionary wines.

Joe remembers, "During my first visit to the Roseworthy library I fell in love with the mystique of wine - the beauty of the vineyard landscapes, the Chateaux, the rows of barrels. When I started tasting more and more wines I realised good wine can connect one to the soil, the place and the people from where it comes. But then there are the great wines of the world; think Chateau d'Yquem. These connect one to the wonder and magic of the universe."

Joe's early experiments in double pruning, cordon cutting and botrytis infection in the 1980s followed by trials with Amarone and Ripasso techniques helped to make Primo Estate one of the world's truly unique winemaking operations, combining modern Australian know how with Joe's Italian winemaking heritage. The culmination of Joe's passion for winemaking is the JOSEPH range, launched with the first vintage of Moda Cabernet Sauvignon in 1989, these handcrafted wines and olive oils are the highest expression of New World winemaking expertise and Old World tradition.

As Joe says, "To introduce some rustic qualities from the old world and blend them with Australia's hi-tech skills; you can end up with some fabulous stuff, wines that are better than either of the extremes."

Joe now runs Primo Estate with his wife, Dina. Primo Estate has grown with the planting of new vineyards in Clarendon and McLaren Vale. In 2006 Primo Estate opened a stunning new McLaren Vale cellar door and tasting room, combining ultra modern design with Italian style, just like our wines and olive oils.

Joe has the final word, "I remain swept up by the romance of it all. More than anything else Primo Estate celebrates la dolce vita, Australian style!"Primo Estate has three vineyards in carefully chosen South Australian wine regions: McLaren Vale, Clarendon and Virginia. Owning the vineyards and managing them in sympathy with the environment is fundamental to growing the absolute best fruit possible. The winemaking team will occasionally source special parcels of quality grapes from outstanding growers when required.

Primo Estate owns and operates a state of the art winery located on the Virginia Vineyard property. It is a custom designed facility that contains an intriguing mixture of new and old world technologies. There are numerous special features like a 50 meter drying rack area, visible from the driveway entry and used for making the JOSEPH 'La Magia' botrytis wine. At the core of the winery, suspended above head height, are five ten tonne open concrete red fermenters. These are more labor intensive but there is no doubt that the subtle aeration and warmer temperatures that they give during the fermentation phase results in wine with more soul.

Another rare sight are the three large oak casks which perpetually contain wine for the JOSEPH Sparkling Red. Shiraz going back to the mid 1980s is in this mother of all base wines. These coexist with the more usual temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and barrel storage.

The winery is operated by a dedicated cellar crew of four people (three of them fully trained winemakers). But if you were to ask them what is the single most important piece of equipment for producing quality wine, they would all say "the coffee espresso machine".
Items
Primo Estate 2008 Colombard 'La Biondina' Net Price Reviews Downloads
Primo Estate 2006 'IL Briccone' (Shiraz/Sangiovese) Net Price Reviews —
Reviews
Primo Estate 2008 Colombard 'La Biondina'
Rating: 88

Green-yellow. Bright lemon and melon aromas are complicated by dusty minerals and herbs. Spicy and youthfully nervy on the palate, with spicy citrus and melon flavors. Deep yellow plum and apple qualities develop on the moderately long, clean finish. This is showing the Sauvignon Blanc today.

- International Wine Cellar (10/1/2008)

Primo Estate 2006 'II Briccone' (Shiraz/Sangiovese)
Rating: 89

Recommended and tasted, but no tasting note given.

- The Wine Advocate (2/1/2009)

Primo Estate 2008 'La Biondina' Colombard
Rating: 88

White values $20 and under. Tasted and recommended, but no tasting note given.

- The Wine Advocate (2/1/2009)

Primo Estate 2006 'II Briccone' Shiraz/Sangiovese
Rating: 90

A 70/30 blend. Ruby-red. Smoky cherry, candied plum, baking spices, incense and deeper blackberry and boysenberry on the nose and palate, with gentle tannins adding grip. Finishes with very good spicy lift and cut. A very impressive showing for this Italianate blend-a category that is often a let-down.

- International Wine Cellar (9/1/2008)