Chess Pinnacles of Italian Trulli

Trulli (Italian, sing. trullo) are traditional homes from Puglia, or Apulia in Italy. They are made of limestone with conical roofs with typically white walls.

The little toppers on the roofs, Pinnacoli (pinnacles), were used by the stonemasons as a kind of signature.

Don't they look like chess pieces?!

Perhaps they played chess in Puglia often, the stonemasons having been good at it? 

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My first contact with trulli was a few years ago when I ran across a wine in the near-by package store with a label showing familiar (read chess) shapes. It was Pinnacoli : Primitivo di Manduria.

It is a full-bodied fruit bom*, a delightfully brash wine that's very dark, ruby-red, very juicy and very high in alc.

From Italy, Primitivo was brought to the States in 1800s where it thrived under the Californian sun and is now known by its alter-ego, Zinfandel.

Primitivo is a fantastic BBQ wine, it loves steak, ribs, as well as pizza.