Revisiting Accademia dei Racemi

There were 5 bottles from Accademia dei Racemi, a leading producer in the Italian region of Apulia. Since the late 1990s, it has operated as a club (or super-coop, if you like) of several smallish estates in Manduria, the hometown of Apulia’s leading export grape variety – Primitivo. Bush vines growing at low altitudes on rocky soils, in an extremely hot climate, give birth to very powerful, supremely fruity wines. With more than a hint of affinity with New World red wines, reinvented Primitivos scored a roaring success among the younger Italian public, and abroad. But this success had a price: too many examples were aping Shiraz and Zinfandel, losing their regional identity, and southern Apulia quickly became the playground of large industrial producers from the north of Italy.

Accademia’s outspoken boss Gregory Perrucci, fully aware of the huge potential of Manduria’s vineyards (with many old, naturally low-yielding bush vines, called alberello – a key term here), created this small group of independent estates, allowing them to get their message across more easily. The style of the wines was deliberately kept more traditional and elemental: bursting with ripe fruit flavours, but juicier and fresher than many other Primitivos, wines such as Felline Primitivo di Manduria or Sinfarosa Zinfandel were quickly established as new regional classics. With time, Perrucci has extended the portfolio with other appellations and grape varieties: Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera (from the Casale Bevagna estate), and the extremely rare Ottavianello and Sussumaniello from Torre Guaceto.

I first became acquainted with these wines in 2002, and for several years was absolutely hooked on Sum, the 100% Sussumaniello wine. It is a weird wine, chocolatey, bitter-spicy, narcotic, with an amazing freshness for the hot climate of this part of Apulia. As proudly ‘regional’ as the entire Accademia project. But on our panel tasting today, the Sum 2005 didn’t shine. The show was stolen by Dèdalo 2005, 100% Ottavianello. This obscure grape, on the verge of extinction until very recently, is believed to be derived from France’s Cinsault. This is another freakish wine, transparent, airy, crisp, young and evolved at the same time, with again a freshness that makes the stereotyped ‘Pinot Noir of the Mediterranean’ comparison sound spot-on.
Accademia dei Racemi also produces an entry-level wine, a blend of various grapes and origins that is sold for the price of a take-away pizza: Anarkos. I absolutely adore this wine for its back label, which is an angry manifesto of regional pride and empowerment. It pretty much sums up my opinions about the modern winemaking in Apulia, and tells you why I so much like the whole Accademia project.

So I’ll leave you to decipher this brilliant piece of Socialist prose, while adding that for its agenda, the wine itself (vintage 2007) tastes perhaps a little too fruity and ‘international’ to be really credible (there is some residual sugar, notably). Or perhaps it was just my palate. The biodynamic calendar wasn’t looking too good today.