Yes…it is all three! Many wine varieties have the same name in different places, and this is one of them. I was inspired to write about this grape variety, one of my favorites, as I am holding a wine class on Croatian wines this Thursday at Stroll in Portsmouth, NH from 6:00 – 7:30pm. Learn more about this wine class and sign up here https://fromthevinetowine.com/event/get-to-know-the-wines-of-croatia/).
As I was working on the presentation I was inspired as most people do not really understand anything about the origins of this very special grape.
In the USA, we call this grape Zinfandel and it does extremely well in California, particularly warm areas like Lodi. Many of these vines, as seen above, are very old and produce excellent wine.
But as I teach my students in Wine & Spirit Trust Level 2 classes, this grape is not native to California. It comes from the Puglia region of Italy, the heel of the boot, and there is it called Primitivo. Many believe it was brought over by Italian immigrants, although there is some suggestion that it arrived in California in the 1850s thanks to Agoston Haraszthy, a Hungarian immigrant who is considered one of the founding father’s of the California wine industry (his winery, Buena Vista, still exists and you can enjoy a tasting in the old 1857 stone building on the property). However, the historian Charles Sullivan (2003) stated that Zinfandel arrived in California as a nameless vine from the Schönbrunn imperial collection in Wien (Vienna) before Haraszthy’s arrival on American soil.
The earliest mention of the Primitivo in Puglia (seen in the photo above) dates back to 1799. The priest and agronomist Francesco Filippo Indellicati mentioned that he found in his vineyard a particularly early-ripening variety that he, therefore, called “Primativo” (from Italian for “first to ripen”). He first planted Primitivo in Liponti at first, and and by 1820 wine growers around Puglia were planting it to great success. By 1860 the name Primitivo was on wine labels. It now makes up 14% of the regional production.
There are many studies about the genetics of wine varieties – kind of an “Ancestry DNA” for wine grapes – and this research led to discovering that Zinfandel and Primitivo were one and the same. In 1975, Wade Wolfe PhD. proved that Zinfandel and Primitivo have identical isozyme patterns, linking them genetically. In 1994, grape geneticist, Dr. Carol Meredith, discovered that Zinfandel and Primitivo have the same DNA profile as Croatia’s Tribidrag..
Another telltale sign that they are one and the same – the way the grapes ripen on the bunch. Zinfandel/Primitivo/Tribidrag all share the characteristic of uneven ripening that gives a wide range of flavors in the finished wine. In the photo above you can see raisined grapes, pink (unripe) grapes as well as perfectly ripe grapes all on the same bunch. This is ty[ical of the variety.
But there’s more evidence… Studies have shown that Tribidrag is the first name used to refer to this grape variety. In 2011, Malenica et al. established that the Tribidrag’s DNA matches Zinfandel and Primitivo, making it one and the same.
Tribidrag is the original and oldest Croatian name for this variety, which originated in central Dalmatia. The variety was also known as Zagarese, named after the Croatian city of Zagreb. An interesting fact that connects these names = the Croatian word “Tribidrag(a)” comes from the Greek, meaning “early ripening”. This is the same meaning as the Latin “primativus” that became “Primitivo” in Puglia. Since both Puglia and Croatia were influenced by first the Greeks then the Romans, it seems that to refer to this grape by the original Croatian name is the most accurate.
Unfortunately, it is really hard to spell and say! While it is possible to find great examples of this wine, more than lielly you will find its offspring, Plavic Mali, as a red wine offering. Tribidrag does not grwo as well in Croatia as in other locations, but its offspring, which seem to have adapted to the climate of the region, thrives. Croatian wines, especially Tribidrag and its offspring Plavic Mali, are hitting the market with great interest and acceptance in the USA. Be on the lookout!
INtrigued about Croatian wine varieties? Thus Thursday, April 20th I will hold a tasting of 6 different Coratian wines at Stroll Cafe + wine Bar in Portsmouth, NH. Included will be two different styles of Plavic Mali as well as two whites, a rosé and another interesting red. Join me there!
Get to Know the Wines of Croatia Tickets, Thu, Apr 20, 2023 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite
