La Cattiva Rosato Primitivo 2020

Masseria La Cattiva's Rosato is made from Primitivo grapes grown on the Altopiano delle Murge, a Cretaceous limestone karst plateau outside Sammichele di Bari in central Puglia, at around 280 meters elevation. Grapes are hand-harvested, given a brief skin maceration, and then pressed into stainless steel where the wine ferments with native yeasts and ages for approximately one year. No sulfites are added at any stage; the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The result lands at around 10-10.5% ABV, well below what most drinkers expect from Puglia. Short maceration keeps the color bright and the extraction light, pulling berry fruit and acidity from the skins without the weight or tannin of a fuller rosato. The low alcohol amplifies the wine's freshness rather than masking it.

Masseria La Cattiva was officially established in 2019 when Marianna Pastore Bovio and six friends, all former craft brewers, converted a family-owned cow-rearing masseria into a natural wine cellar. The estate's vineyards had been farmed organically for decades before the project began, with grapes previously sold to larger producers rather than vinified on site. The estate is certified organic through Accredia and Suolosalute.

This wine sits in the IGT Puglia category with no formal appellation. Farming uses only sulfur and copper in the vineyard; fermentation is entirely spontaneous. The wine is a direct, low-intervention expression of Primitivo grown on limestone soils in a warm continental climate moderated by the plateau's elevation.