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San Marzano Collezione 50 Cinquanta is a rich, full-bodied red created to celebrate the winery's 50th anniversary. Made from native red grapes grown on old alberello vines in Salento, it combines generous ripe fruit with impressive depth, a smooth texture and the warming complexity of French oak.
Expect ripe plum and red fruit preserve alongside vanilla, liquorice and gentle spice. Powerful without feeling harsh, it has the soft texture and long, velvety finish that make San Marzano's premium reds so enjoyable, while its distinctive non-vintage blend offers something different from a straightforward varietal Primitivo.
Merchant's Tip
If you enjoy the richness and generosity of premium southern Italian reds but don't necessarily want another varietal Primitivo, Collezione Cinquanta is a particularly interesting direction to take. It has plenty of ripe fruit and power, but its blend of native Salento grapes and extended French-oak maturation gives it a character of its own.
Appearance: Deep ruby red with attractive purple reflections.
Nose: Intense and complex, with ripe plum and red fruit preserve accompanied by vanilla, liquorice and warm spice.
Palate: Full-bodied, powerful and remarkably soft, with concentrated ripe fruit supported by smooth structure and the vanilla, liquorice and spice of French-oak maturation.
Finish: Long, rich and persistent, with lingering fruit, vanilla, liquorice and polished spice.
Choose Collezione Cinquanta if you enjoy rich, full-bodied southern Italian reds but would like to explore something beyond a single-grape Primitivo or Negroamaro.
It is particularly well suited to drinkers who enjoy Amarone, appassimento wines, premium Primitivo, powerful Shiraz or generously styled Malbec and are looking for concentrated fruit, a soft texture and noticeable oak complexity.
Its non-vintage blend is also part of its identity. Rather than expressing a particular harvest, Collezione Cinquanta was created as a distinctive San Marzano house style built around native red grapes from Salento.
If you prefer lighter-bodied reds, bright acidity, restrained fruit or minimal oak, another style will probably suit you better.
San Marzano created Collezione Cinquanta in 2012, fifty years after the winery was founded in 1962. Rather than focusing on a single grape variety or vintage, the wine brings together native red grape varieties typical of Salento to create its own distinctive style.
The grapes come from old alberello bush vines around San Marzano, approximately 100 metres above sea level. The finely textured loam is rich in iron oxides, giving the surface its characteristic red colour, with a calcareous limestone subsoil beneath.
The grapes are harvested by hand in September at a slightly advanced stage of ripeness. After destemming and crushing, they undergo a cold maceration at around 8°C for 24–48 hours before approximately ten days of temperature-controlled maceration and alcoholic fermentation at 24–26°C using indigenous yeasts.
Malolactic fermentation takes place in stainless steel before the wine spends 12 months in French oak. The combination of ripe fruit, old alberello vines and extended oak maturation creates Collezione Cinquanta's powerful, soft style, with vanilla, liquorice and spice adding complexity to the concentrated fruit.
Collezione Cinquanta is particularly well suited to richly flavoured food such as grilled steak, roast or slow-cooked lamb, braised beef, game, hearty pasta dishes and mature cheeses.
Serve at around 18°C. Giving the wine around 30 minutes to breathe before serving will help its ripe fruit, vanilla, liquorice and spice become more expressive.
For broader regional pairing advice, read our What Food Goes with Puglia Wine? guide.
Collezione Cinquanta has an interesting role in the San Marzano range. It offers the richness and generosity that attract many people to premium Puglian reds, but it doesn't ask you to choose between Primitivo and Negroamaro. The blend itself is the point.
That makes it a particularly useful recommendation for somebody who already knows they enjoy powerful southern Italian wine but wants to explore beyond the familiar single-grape styles. Twelve months in French oak gives it plenty of polish and complexity, while the ripe fruit and soft texture keep it immediately approachable.
If you're looking for restraint or delicacy, this isn't the bottle we'd choose. But if you want a rich, luxurious Puglian red with a character distinct from a straightforward Primitivo, Collezione Cinquanta makes a very convincing case.
If you'd like to stay with the producer but compare other styles, browse our San Marzano wines.
If Collezione Cinquanta isn't quite what you're looking for but you'd still like a wine from the region, browse our Puglia wines.
If you'd rather understand San Marzano's different wines before choosing another bottle, read our Should You Buy San Marzano Wines? guide.
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