Some researchers believe that the Primitivo vine took this name since its grapes mature early.

The credit for the expansion of use of this vine, due to cloning which goes back to the 19th century, is given to viticulturists in the Gioia del Colle area, and in fact some scions of these vines were brought to Manduria to be grafted onto the local San Lorenzo stocks.

At the start, wines from the Manduria district were sold as wine for dilution all over Italy and abroad as the base for the red wines were famous ones, of other areas. The Manduria wine even had its devotees who drank it as a dessert wine after meals, but as the product was then, it was rather strong and heavy.

In 1974, thanks to the work and commitment of Giovanni Soloperto and several oenologists who envisaged its future as a bottled wine, strict rules for classification of the Primitivo di Manduria as a DOC wine were drawn up.

The Register of Vineyards cultivating the Primitivo di Manduria DOC lists the name of Soloperto first and today the Soloperto Estate, after winning many prizes around the world, bottles several types of Primitive DOC with alcohol content ranging from 14° to 20° with several intermediate levels.

Apart from the Primitivo, the firm bottles Zinfandel, Locorotondo DOC, Martina Franca DOC, Rosato del Salento and other table wines.
The Primitivo di Manduria DOC 14° is also available in hand-made and hand-painted pottery containers, a beautiful example of the work of Apulian craftspeople.

The keynote of the Soloperto estate is the tireless quest for product quality. Not by chance is the firm mentioned in all the specialized literature and admired by all the experts in this field.