The Primitivo (Zinfandel) vineyard proliferation can be attributed to its hardy nature. Adaptable to a wide range of soils and climates, its vines tend to be vigorous and productive. The clusters are compact and full and the berry stems (peduncles) somewhat short. These factors make Primitivo somewhat susceptible to bunch rot and some types of mildew. Water management is particularly critical. Under stress from lack of moisture, it is prone to raisining. It also ripens more unevenly than most other varieties and it is not uncommon for green and raisined berries to occur within the same cluster. This tendency to can be aggravated by poorly-timed irrigation. Uneven ripening also means that machine-picking is impractical and a Primitivo vineyard may often require a few passes, days apart, to harvest all the fruit with the same level of maturity.The grapes are sometime fermented at lower temperatures in order to retain the natural raspberry aromas , and often kept in oak barrels to acquire the flavors of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and plums . The grape has a high sugar content, meaning that many examples have a slight sweetness to them. It is this sweetness that makes the wines extremely versatile and popular, and it also means that the wines can have a very high alcohol content - some as high as 17%! Characteristics of the grape: medium to full bodied, jammy, dark cherry, blackberry, raspberry, cedar, nutmeg, clove, black pepper, chocolate, espresso.