red grape · regional staple
Zinfandel
Dalmatian coast, Croatia
Say it
zin·fan·del
Name entered American use via mislabeled Vienna nursery stock c.1829; also encountered as Primitivo (pree-mah-TEE-voh, Italian) and Tribidrag (tree-BEE-drag, Croatian).
On the palate
How you spot it blind: jammy blackberry and black pepper; notorious for uneven ripening and high alcohol
The story
First written down · 1444, Hvar and Vis, Croatia (as Tribidrag)
DNA profiling in 2001 by UC Davis geneticist Carole Meredith and Croatian scientists Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić confirmed Zinfandel, Primitivo, and Crljenak Kaštelanski are genetically identical, linking the variety to 1444 Dalmatian records of Tribidrag.
Where it lives
California, USA · Puglia, Italy · Dalmatia, Croatia
Shows up as
If you like this, try
Also answers to Primitivo, Tribidrag, Crljenak Kaštelanski.
Shop our Zinfandel bottles