Zinfandel
Also known as Primitivo, Tribidrag, Crljenak Kaštelanski
Dalmatian Coast, Croatia
A red grape of Croatian origin, genetically identical to Italy's Primitivo, that became California's signature variety, prone to uneven ripening and capable of jammy, high-alcohol wines.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Niche
Climate
Warm climate
Ripening
Mid season
Wine styles
Still
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
United States of America
California (Sonoma, Lodi)
Old-vine plantings, some over a century old, produce the grape's most celebrated modern expressions.
Italy
Puglia
Grown as Primitivo, genetically identical to Zinfandel, in a warmer, more Mediterranean style.
Croatia
Dalmatian Coast
The grape's ancestral homeland, where it survives today as the rare variety Crljenak Kaštelanski.
Background
Origin & History
Zinfandel's history was a genuine mystery for over a century, its origins untraceable through ordinary ampelography. DNA fingerprinting led by Carole Meredith in the 1990s and 2000s finally proved it genetically identical to southern Italy's Primitivo, and further research traced both back to a nearly extinct Croatian variety called Crljenak Kaštelanski, historically also known as Tribidrag. It is also a parent of Plavac Mali, Croatia's leading red, which it produced with the rare Dobričić.
Introduced to the United States in the early-to-mid 19th century, Zinfandel became closely identified with California, especially the old, dry-farmed vineyards planted by immigrant families in the late 1800s and early 1900s, some of which remarkably still bear fruit today. The grape is notorious for ripening unevenly within a single cluster, demanding careful vineyard management; it's also the base of the sweeter, pink "White Zinfandel" style, which — somewhat ironically — helped many of those historic old vineyards survive the late 20th century by giving growers a commercial reason to keep the vines in the ground.
Lineage
Family tree
Parentage not recorded — Zinfandel is an old variety of unknown origin. Click a related grape to explore its own lineage.