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Primitivo or Zinfandel? The Answer Is Tribidrag

Primitivo or Zinfandel? The Answer Is Tribidrag

Introduction

Italians call it Primitivo. Americans prefer to use the name Zinfandel. Either way, we are talking about the same grape variety.

As it always happens when it comes to DNA profiling, identifying the origins of a specific grape might be very hard. As much as this might surprise you, neither Primitivo nor Zinfandel is the original name of the grape variety.

Studies have shown that Tribidrag is the first name used to refer to it. You are surprised, aren’t you?

Well, the next paragraphs are going to amaze you even more. So, stay with us to discover the “debate” about this interesting grape variety.

The Origins Of Tribidrag

Tribidrag is the original and oldest Croatian name for the variety from central Dalmatia, much better known today as Primitivo in Puglia, and Zinfandel in California.

Malenica et al. (2011) established that the Tribidrag’s DNA matches Zinfandel/ Primitivo among others Croatian indigenous varieties.

Since the name Tribidrag appeared before the others, this is supposed to be the original name for this variety. It’s interesting to notice that the Tribidrag and Primitivo have the same etymology. According to Croatian linguistic Valentin Putanec (2003), the Croatian word “Tribidrag(a)” comes from the Greek, meaning “early ripening”. This perfectly reflects the meaning of the Latin “primativus” that became “Primitivo” through the years.

We now know the original name of Primitivo/ Zinfandel. Let’s understand when and how Italy and America got to know the variety.

Figure 1: Dalmatian vineyards (adventurescroatia.com, 2020)

The Origins Of Primitivo

The earliest mention of the variety in Puglia dates back to 1799 when the priest and agronomist Francesco Filippo Indellicati mentioned that he found in his vineyard a particularly early-ripening variety that he, therefore, called “Primativo” (“first to ripen”).

Before that this variety was known as Zagarese, named after the Croatian city of Zagreb. However, a similar name Zagarolese was also given to Castiglione in Calabria.

Indellicati planted his Primitivo in Liponti at first, and then the variety was spread in other areas in Puglia with the help of local growers around 1820. We had to wait unitil the 1860 to read the name Primitivo in wine labels.

The Origins Of Zinfandel

Understanding the origin of Zinfandel isn’t an easy thing to do. There are several interpretations indeed. One, which doesn’t seem to be reliable to us, sees Americans arguing that Zinfandel is indigenous. Why does the hypothesis sound farfetched to us? Because vitis vinifera isn’t a native species of the USA.

Many others have suggested that Zinfandel arrived in California in the 1850s thanks to Agoston Haraszthy, a Hungarian immigrant who planted over 300 varieties in different USA states after his arrival in 1937.

However, the historian Charles Sullivan (2003) proved that Zinfandel arrived in California as a nameless vine from the Schönbrunn imperial collection in Wien (Vienna) before Haraszthy’s arrival on American soil.

Indeed, Long Island grape grower George Gibs introduced this variety in the 1820s and the name “Zinfardel” first appeared in a catalog on the same Island in 1829.

We had to wait until 1852 when the modern spelling Zinfandel first appeared in a letter to the editor of The Horticulturist written by viticulturist John Fisk Allen.

Figure 2: Zinfandel vineyards (winerysage.com, 2020)

The Battle Over Zinfandel

After 1975, when the Ph.D. Wade Wolfe proved that Zinfandel and Primitivo have identical isozyme patterns, the battle over Zinfandel immediately began.

To add fuel to the fire, in the late 1970s Puglian producers started selling their Primitivo in the US with the name Zinfandel on the labels. As a consequence, Californian producers wanted to protect the Zinfandel heritage, in which they invested effort and money.

Therefore, in 1985 the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) ruled that Zinfandel couldn’t be used as a synonym for Primitivo. However, everything fell apart in 1994.

That year, Carole Meredith and her doctoral candidate John Bowers proved that Zinfandel and Primitivo have the same DNA profiling. As a result, in 1999 the EU granted Italian Primitivo producers the right to use the name Zinfandel on their labels.

Figure 3: Some old law books, probably read during the “Zinfandel battle” (spearswms.com, 2020)

Conclusions

Apart from the battle between American and Italians over Zinfandel, we believe there is something else worth mentioning.

Italians’ behavior showed (and we are Italians…) how little we took care of “our heritage”, especially in the past. We strongly believe that nowadays, when the concept of Terroir and indigenous grapes are so important, Italian producers wouldn’t do it anymore.

Selling wine was more important than valorizing our heritage, wine heritage in this case. We have been willing to sell Primitivo as Zinfandel to get a higher marketing exposure.

Even though experts have proved that we could do that, here the question is: could you picture French winemakers fighting to label their priced Rhône’s Syrah as Shiraz just to penetrate the Australian market?

This rhetorical question might explain the reason why French wines are considered to be so unique nowadays…


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