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Primitivo and Zinfandel: a Balkan grape with two passports

Primitivo is a red grape with deep color, very ripe fruit and generous alcohol, the star of Puglia, the heel of the Italian boot. In California, the same grape is called Zinfandel. DNA testing showed the two are one and the same, and that its family comes from the other side of the Adriatic Sea, from Croatia. If you've ever had a soft, fruit-packed Italian red, it may have been this one.

Where it comes from

In VIVC, the international grape catalog, the main name is Primitivo, and the recorded origin is the Balkans. The one who solved the mystery was geneticist Carole Meredith, from the University of California, Davis. In 1998, she and two researchers from the University of Zagreb, Ivan Pejic and Edi Maletic, went around vineyards on the Dalmatian coast. In December 2001, the DNA matched: Zinfandel and an old Croatian grape called Crljenak are the same plant.

In Meredith's words, what Americans call Zinfandel and Italians call Primitivo is Crljenak Kaštelanski. UC Davis's grapevine center records that the grape was already grown in Croatia at the beginning of the 15th century, under the name Tribidrag. One theory is that it crossed the Adriatic to Puglia in the 18th century. And Meredith left the door open: the grape may have reached Croatia from Greece or Albania.

What it's like in the glass

The rules of the Primitivo di Manduria appellation describe a deep-colored red that leans toward garnet with time, medium acidity, a broad aroma and a velvety flavor that ranges from dry to slightly sweet. In practice, it's very ripe fruit, softness and full body. The alcohol shows: Primitivo di Manduria calls for at least 13.5% in the finished wine, and the Riserva, 14%.

The way the plant grows explains the sweetness of the fruit. The official Italian profile says Primitivo gives two harvests a year, sometimes three: the first ripens at the end of August in the hottest spots, richer in sugar and poorer in acidity; the second grows on the side shoots and is ready in the second half of September. With so much sugar, late-harvested Zinfandel can even make a Port-style dessert wine, according to UC Davis.

What it pairs with

Ripe fruit and high alcohol call for food with sauce and seasoning. Primitivo goes well with lasagna bolognese, pasta with sausage ragù, eggplant parmigiana, calabresa sausage pizza and roast beef ribs. Californian Zinfandel loves barbecue with BBQ sauce, cheddar burgers and pork ribs. The sweet Primitivos pair with blue cheese and dark chocolate. All suggestions: liked another pairing? Go with that one.

Where it shines today

In Italy, its home is Puglia. The Primitivo di Manduria appellation, near Taranto, calls for at least 85% of the grape, and the official Italian registry lists other appellations where it goes in, like Gioia del Colle and Terra d'Otranto. The sweet version became a DOCG in 2011, Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale: 100% Primitivo, grapes that can dry on the vine or on racks, at least 16% total alcohol (the alcohol already there plus what the sugar would still give) and at least 50 grams of sugar per liter.

In the United States there were 19,000 hectares of Zinfandel in 2015, by the OIV's count. In California, in 2017, it was the fourth wine grape by area, according to UC Davis, with the biggest plantings in San Joaquin County and Sonoma. Lodi, in San Joaquin County, has more than 16,000 acres, over 42% of the state's Zinfandel, and most of it in vineyards more than 50 years old.

California also turned the grape into a sales phenomenon: in the mid-1980s, White Zinfandel, a slightly sweet rosé, became a craze, says the Lodi winegrape commission. Very different from the full-bodied red of Puglia, it shows how the way a wine is made changes the face of the same grape. UC Davis describes this white or rosé Zinfandel as a popular wine, with more sugar and less alcohol than the red. Same grape, another world.

Its other names

VIVC lists 64 synonyms. In Italy, the official variety registry lists Zinfandel as an official synonym of Primitivo, and keeps local names like Primaticcio, Primativo, Morellone and Uva di Corato. In Croatia, it appears as Tribidrag and Crljenak Kaštelanski, and the catalog also has Kratosija and Pribidrag. On the label, the most common is Primitivo in Italy and Zinfandel in the United States.

The priest who named the early grape

The rules for Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale tell the story of the name. In Gioia del Colle, near Bari, the priest and botanist Francesco Filippo Indellicati (1787–1831) noticed the grape in an old, mixed vineyard. He renamed it Primativo or Primaticcio because of its early ripening, and planted a vineyard of it alone. UC Davis points to the Latin root: primus, first. The official profile confirms the hurry: harvest between the end of August and the beginning of September.

On the other side of the ocean, Zinfandel first arrived as a table grape. Its origin in the United States is uncertain, but the most likely lead, according to UC Davis, is an amateur horticulturist named George Gibbs, who brought the grape to Long Island, New York, in the 1820s; in the early 19th century it was grown in greenhouses on the East Coast. It probably reached California around the time of the gold rush. Only with DNA, almost two centuries later, did the two ends of the story meet.

Top rated with Primitivo and Zinfandel

Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.

• Terre di San Vincenzo Dal 1947 Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Gianfranco Fino Es Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Varvaglione Cosimo Varvaglione Collezione Privata Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Terra Rossa Vigne Vecchie Primitivo di ManduriaItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.6
• Schola Sarmenti Diciotto PrimitivoItaly · red · Primitivorating ★ 4.5
• Inglenook Edizione Pennino ZinfandelUnited States · red · Zinfandelrating ★ 4.5
• Tobin James Cellars Zinfandel Fat BoyUnited States · red · Zinfandelrating ★ 4.5
• Del Dotto Cave BlendUnited States · red · Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignonrating ★ 4.5

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