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Varvaglione Papale Linea Oro Primitivo di Manduria 2016
RedItaly2016
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-05-30 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
4.0/5 — lower than Vivino's 4.4 average · world avg price US$24 · A Primitivo di Manduria named in honour of the only pope Puglia ever produced.
Wine-Searcher aggregate of 6 critic reviews: 89. James Suckling described the 2016 as very ripe, with vanilla, chocolate and light raspberry jam and round tannins — 'drink now'. Vivino lists one further score of 96 from 2018 (publication not named).
Market note: World average US$24 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026). On the same basis the house's regular Papale is US$19 (89), its old-vine Primitivo 'Cosimo Varvaglione Collezione Privata' US$29 (87) and the '1921' Riserva US$37 (89). On Vivino, all eighteen vintages with 30+ ratings score 4.1–4.5; the 2016 scores 4.4.
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“타닌이 거슬리지 않으며 부드러운게 프리모티보 드 만드리아는 진판델과 마찬가지로 초콜릿 느낌과 타바코의 피니쉬가 적절히 잘 버무려지는데 노즈에서는 과실이 많진 않다. 복잡미는 떨어지지만 쉽게 다가가고 입안에 부드러움을 느끼고 싶을 때 먹을듯 하다.”
Show original
“vanilla chocolate plum tobacco raisin 타닌이 거슬리지 않으며 부드러운게 프리모티보 드 만드리아는 진판델과 마찬가지로 초콜릿 느낌과 타바코의 피니쉬가 적절히 잘 버무려지는데 노즈에서는 과실이 많진않다. 복잡미는 떨어지지만 쉽게 다가가고 입안에 부드러움을 느끼고 싶을 때 먹을듯 하다.”
What I learned today: a cork comes out with leverage, not strength.
Wednesday. A bitter wind that evening, so no guests came till late. Master Seo set a bottle and a waiter's knife on the counter and told me that tonight I'd open it. The first time. I cut the foil around, stood the screw in the very centre of the cork and turned it in, hooked the lever on the lip of the bottle and lifted in two stages. When the cork was halfway up, my hand shook. The last bit I eased out with a gentle twist by hand. The sound was small. Master Seo took the first mouthful in his own glass, smelled it, gave one nod, and filled mine.
Deep ruby. Vanilla, chocolate, ripe plum. Less fruit on the nose than I expected. In the mouth the tannins didn't bother at all; they were round. After swallowing, something like tobacco leaf clung to the chocolate at the end. That soft finish opened the last Saturday night of May.
Twenty-one, late on that same Saturday we drank the rosé, the kitchen table. The thermometer had already gone back to Mum. Dad poured from two cloth-wrapped bottles in turn and set two glasses side by side in front of me. Both were dark, both smelled of chocolate. Dad asked just one thing: which one's softer? I chose the glass on the left. Dad only nodded; he didn't say which bottle it was. I don't know the name of the bottle.
I opened the notebook to that date. Below the rosé there are two lines of Primitivo di Manduria. One has four stars and no words. The other says: the tannins don't bother, it's soft. Like Zinfandel, the chocolate and the tobacco-like finish are nicely blended, but there isn't much fruit on the nose. Less complex, but a bottle for "when you want to feel softness in your mouth". Four stars. The bottle was Varvaglione Papale Linea Oro Primitivo di Manduria. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. Which bottle my glass came from that night isn't in the notebook. But only this line has the word 'soft'. The left glass I chose was probably this bottle. I've already heard the story of how the same grape crossed the sea and became Zinfandel.
Master Seo turned the bottle, pointed at the word 'Papale' on the label, and set me a quiz. Minjae couldn't make it.
After closing, I wrote the name on the twenty-second page of the new notebook. At the very top, small: "the first bottle I opened". What I learned today: a cork comes out with leverage, not strength. And while you can choose softness, it's the notebook that tells you which bottle it was.
What this wine is
Varvaglione is a family winery near Taranto in southern Puglia. The '1921' in the company name marks nearly a century of the family making wine. For a long time it was a bulk-wine house — the Italian food magazine Scatti di Gusto calls today's owner, Cosimo Varvaglione, 'the king of bulk wine'. He turned the business towards bottled wine, and his wife and three children now work alongside him. His daughters' nicknames became wine names (the white 'Marfi', the sweet Primitivo 'Chicca').
'Papale' means 'papal'. The wine takes its name from a nearby contrada (rural district), and producer-side sources say that name honours the only pope Puglia ever produced: Benedict XIII (Pietro Francesco Orsini), elected in 1724. The label carries a clipping from a newspaper of the time.
The 'Linea Oro' (gold line) is the bottle the house calls 'our Ferrari'. Primitivo from alberello (low bush-trained) vines 50 to 90 years old is aged 10 to 12 months in French and American oak (sources differ slightly on the length).
What the world says
The six critic reviews gathered on Wine-Searcher aggregate to 89. James Suckling found the 2016 very rich and dense with very ripe fruit, vanilla, chocolate and a light raspberry-jam character, with round tannins — 'drink now'. Vivino lists one more score, a 96, without naming the publication.
The community loves this bottle. On Vivino this vintage averages 4.4 from 4,015 ratings, and the label as a whole 4.4 from 38,140. There are 2,545 fours and 1,133 fives. Every vintage with 30+ ratings scores between 4.1 and 4.5.
The aroma keywords run vanilla, chocolate and oak (1,562 mentions), plum, blackberry and jam (1,333), cherry (525), leather and smoke (343), and pepper and licorice (221). Structure: intensity 4.0/5, sweetness 3.1, tannin 2.2, acidity 1.8. Vivino lists residual sugar of 13 grams per litre. Dense, round and a little sweet.
"Bitter chocolate and blackberry jam." — Vivino review, Nov 2020, 4.5
How I drank it
May 30, 2020, 4 stars. I wrote down vanilla, chocolate, plum, tobacco and raisin.
The tannins didn't intrude; it was soft. Primitivo di Manduria, like Zinfandel, blends a chocolate feel with a tobacco-like finish quite nicely. There wasn't much fruit on the nose, though. Less complex, but an easy wine to approach. A bottle to reach for when you want softness in your mouth.
The same day I also gave Mottura's Stilio Primitivo di Manduria 2017 a 4, but left no words for it. The Le Grand Châtelain Grenache Cinsault Rosé opened that day got a 3.5. Four months earlier I'd given San Marzano's Talo Primitivo di Manduria 2017 a 4 as well. My 4 is below Vivino's 4.4. The round sweetness the community loves, I read as 'less complex'.
Where this wine shows up
Producer-side sources say the name 'Papale' honours Benedict XIII (Pietro Francesco Orsini), the only pope Puglia ever produced. The label carries a newspaper clipping from his time.
Scatti di Gusto — Vino Puglia: Varvaglione 1921 · Callmewine — Primitivo di Manduria 'Papale Oro' Varvaglione
Artwork and stills are not reproduced for copyright reasons; scenes are summarised.
Vivino community data
2016 vintage rating distribution (4015 ratings, average 4.4)
| 5★ | 1133 (28%) | |
| 4★ | 2545 (63%) | |
| 3★ | 301 (7%) | |
| 2★ | 19 (0%) | |
| 1★ | 17 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 1562 | vanilla 475 · chocolate 413 · oak 380 · tobacco 81 · dark chocolate 44 |
| Black fruit | 1333 | plum 396 · blackberry 286 · jam 141 · dark fruit 101 · black fruit 98 |
| Red fruit | 525 | cherry 323 · red fruit 79 · strawberry 44 · raspberry 30 · cranberry 11 |
| Earth & leather | 343 | leather 105 · smoke 63 · earthy 50 · cocoa 34 · mushroom 26 |
| Spice | 221 | pepper 85 · licorice 56 · cinnamon 38 · mint 9 · eucalyptus 6 |
Structure: Acidity 1.8/5 · Intensity 4.0/5 · Tannin 2.2/5 · Sweetness 3.1/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 38140 ratings, average 4.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 4.5 | 206 |
| 1991 | 4.3 | 46 |
| 1999 | 4.3 | 73 |
| 2006 | 4.5 | 50 |
| 2008 | 4.2 | 46 |
| 2010 | 4.2 | 643 |
| 2011 | 4.2 | 339 |
| 2012 | 4.2 | 358 |
| 2013 | 4.3 | 3422 |
| 2014 | 4.4 | 4477 |
| 2015 | 4.4 | 6380 |
| 2016 | 4.4 | 4015 |
| 2017 | 4.3 | 5016 |
| 2018 | 4.4 | 670 |
| 2019 | 4.3 | 2299 |
| 2020 | 4.3 | 1018 |
| 2021 | 4.3 | 1647 |
| 2022 | 4.1 | 38 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Varvaglione Papale Linea Oro?
A Primitivo di Manduria made by Varvaglione 1921 of Puglia from old alberello vines around Manduria. The 2016 scores 4.4 on Vivino (4,015 ratings), with a Wine-Searcher critic aggregate of 89, at 14% alcohol.
How much does it cost?
Wine-Searcher's world average is US$24 per 750ml (ex-tax, Sep 2026). The 2016 remains at one overseas retailer, as a magnum (1.5L) for US$57.88 (Germany, tax incl.).
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests beef, lamb, poultry and pasta. Round and slightly sweet, it suits rich dishes like baked pasta in tomato sauce or braised short ribs.
What does 'Papale' mean?
It's Italian for 'papal'. Producer-side sources say the name comes from a nearby rural district and honours Benedict XIII, the only pope from Puglia (elected 1724). The label carries a clipping from a newspaper of the time.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Scatti di Gusto — Vino Puglia: Varvaglione 1921
- Callmewine — Primitivo di Manduria 'Papale Oro' Varvaglione
- Wine.com — Varvaglione Primitivo di Manduria Papale Linea Oro
- Wine-Searcher — 2016 Varvaglione Papale Linea Oro Primitivo di Manduria
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