With the birth of the DOC in 1974, Primitivo di Manduria began its life as a denomination and as a great red wine on the Italian wine scene. The Primitivo di Manduria Protection Consortium was founded in 1998 with the union of ten companies, both cooperatives and private ones, and obtained legal recognition in 2002. Today the Consortium is made up of 68 wineries, more than 1900 winegrowers, and extends over about 5,000 hectares. The area covers 18 municipalities between the provinces of Taranto and Brindisi and its production is divided into Primitivo di Manduria DOC, Primitivo di Manduria DOC Riserva and Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale DOCG. In 2015 the Consortium was assigned by MIPAAF the exclusive task of coordinating the functions of protection, promotion, enhancement, supervision, information to the consumer and general care of the interests for the denomination “Primitivo di Manduria”: this is the Erga Omnes recognition. The role of protection and supervision has many forms and it is for this reason that the current Board of Directors has approved the go-ahead for the state labels to be affixed to the bottles of Primitivo di Manduria DOC.