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Tribidrag

The red grape variety originates from Croatia. Synonyms grouped alphabetically by country are Morellone, Primaticcio, Primativo, Primitivo, Primitivo di Gioia, Uva di Corato, Zagarese (Italy); Crljenac Kaštelanski, Crljenak Crni, Crljenak Kaštelanski, Plavac Veliki, Pribidrag, Trebidrag (Croatia); Grakošija, Gratošija, Krakošija, Kratkošica, Kratkošija, Kratkošija Crna, Kratošija, Kratošijo (Montenegro); Zinfandel (USA). It should not be confused with the varieties Blatina, Crljenak Crni, Plavac Mali or Vranac, despite seemingly suggestive synonyms or morphological similarities. According to DNA analyses carried out by scientists Dr Carole Meredith and John Bowers at the University of California in collaboration with Croatian and Italian grapevine specialists from 1994 to 2011, the identity, which had been unclear for decades, was clarified:

four names - one grape variety

The Croatian Tribidrag (in older sources still called Crljenak Kaštelanski), the Italian Primitivo, the Californian Zinfandel and the Montenegrin Kratošija are genetically (almost) identical. The variety is therefore also referred to as ZPC = Zinfandel / Primitivo / Crljenak Kaštelanski. Although Primitivo and Tribidrag/Zinfandel are not 100% identical according to DNA analyses, they are considered to be one grape variety. According to the ampelographic rule, a variety is labelled according to the oldest name used, which is why the name Tribidrag, already mentioned in the 15th century, was suggested in the grape variety bible "Wine Grapes". The varieties have developed somewhat differently over the last 200 years in terms of ripening time, susceptibility to disease and flavour. The Zinfandel variety has its very own history in the USA.

Zinfandel - Traube und Blatt

Origin

The earliest mention of Primitivo was made in 1799 by the amateur botanist Francesco Filippo Indellicati (1767-1831) from Gioia del Colle (province of Bari) in the Apulia region. He discovered the rare vine in his vineyard. He noticed its early ripening at the end of August (which was true for the Primitivo clone at the time), which is why he coined the name "Primativo" or "Primaticcio" from the Latin "primativus" for "first to ripen". At the time, it was named Zagarese (after the Croatian city of Zagreb). Indellicati planted the vine near his home parish, from where it spread to other Apulian areas by 1820. However, it was not until around 1860 that the current name Primitivo became established.

Zinfandel in the USA

During a trip to Apulia in 1967, the US plant pathologist Austin Goheen noticed the similarity between Primitivo wine and Zinfandel wine. He took Primitivo vines back to the USA for comparison purposes. Based purely on external criteria, he surmised that Primitivo could be identical to the Zinfandel variety. He sent the vines to the University of California in Davis for more detailed analyses, where they were planted. There, in 1975, the student Wade Wolf discovered very similar patterns through isozyme analyses (DNA analyses did not yet exist at the time). This was recognised by the public as a match and led to the start of the "battle over Zinfandel". This was because people in the USA did not want to accept that the Zinfandel variety, which was regarded as "original American", was not independent.

Primitivo in Italy

As early as the 18th century, Primitivo was thought to have originated in Italy from Dalmatia (Croatia). In the mid-1970s, Austin Goheen contacted Prof Franco Lamberti at the University of Bari, who had visited Croatian vineyards together with Prof Ana Sarić from the University of Zagreb. There, Lamberti had noticed great similarities between Croatian varieties called Plavac Mali and Plavina with Primitivo. Goheen then received Plavac Mali vines from Sarić in 1979 and, using isozyme analysis, established that the two varieties were not identical. Nevertheless, the rumour of a match spread and was also fed by Croatian producers who wanted to market their wines in the USA under Zinfandel. In 1985, the BATF banned the use of the name Zinfandel. The Croatian-born winemaker Miljenko "Mike" Grgich (1923-2023) therefore suggested that more detailed research be carried out.

Ancestry/parentage

As mentioned above, Carole Meredith and colleagues had already established the similarity of Primitivo and Zinfandel in 1994 (this resulted in the EU officially authorising the synonym Zinfandel for Primitivo from 1999 onwards; the objection by the responsible US authority BATF was rejected). Now the Plavac Mali issue was also to be clarified. Starting in 1998, around 150 vines of this variety were therefore sent from Croatia to Meredith in California. In 2000, DNA analyses there revealed that Plavac Mali is a direct descendant of Primitivo/Zinfandel. And four years later, the Croatian grapevine specialists Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić from the University of Zagreb identified the Croatian variety Dobričić as the second parent. Finally, in 2007 it was established in Croatia that the Plavina variety originates from a cross between the Apulian Verdeca x Primitivo/Zinfandel. Further close parent-offspring relationships between at least four Croatian varieties and Primitivo/Zinfandel conclusively confirmed the Croatian origin.

In 2000, the identity of the original Croatian variety had not yet been clarified. Although a descendant (Plavac Mali) was known, the vine in question as a parent (alongside the later identified Dobričić) had not yet been found. If the variety really came from here, there should still be vines as ultimate proof. Of course, the variety could already be extinct. Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić kept sending possible vines to California, which they found in old Dalmatian vineyards. Finally, in December 2001, an unknown vine was found in an old vineyard belonging to winemaker Ivica Radunić in Kastel Novi near Split. It was named Crljenak Kaštelanski (Red of Kaštela) after the place where it was found. The DNA profile was identical to Primitivo/Zinfandel. Later, another nine vines were found.

Kratošija in Montenegro

In 2002, a genetically identical vine called Pribidrag was discovered in Svinisće near Omis, south of Split. And the vine cultivated in Montenegro under the name Kratošija was also recognised as identical in 2008. In 2006, the Blauer Scheuchner variety, which used to be widespread here, was rediscovered in a vineyard on the Badische Bergstrasse in Germany. It is suspected to be Tribidrag, but DNA analyses have not yet been carried out. The crowning achievement finally came in 2011, when Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić identified the ancient Croatian variety Tribidrag, which was cultivated in the Split region as early as the 15th century, as the original variety. Incidentally, like Primitivo, this name means "early ripening". The mystery of the variety/s was now finally solved.

Growing areas in Europe

As already mentioned, Primitivo (Italy) is morphologically somewhat different from the more similar Tribidrag (Croatia) and Zinfandel (California). Primitivo has smaller berries, ripens earlier, has a higher yield and is less susceptible to botrytis. The vine produces dark-coloured, spicy, alcohol-rich red wines with aromas of cinnamon, mint, chocolate, cloves, pepper, black cherries, blackberries and raspberries. In Italy, it is represented under Primitivo on a total of 13,896 hectares. Here it is mainly cultivated in Apulia, where it is authorised for the three DOC red wines Falerno del Massico, Gioia del Colle and Primitivo di Manduria. It is also cultivated in France, in Languedoc under Zinfandel (1 ha), Montenegro under Kratkošija, Croatia, North Macedonia (1,000 ha), Romania (9 ha), Switzerland (1 ha) and Spain (1 ha).

Cultivated areas overseas

In the USA, a total of 18,851 hectares are planted under the common name Zinfandel. By far the largest part of this, around 18,000 hectares, is in California (see the historical information on the introduction in the USA under Zinfandel). Further acreage, mostly under Zinfandel, is located in Argentina (1 ha), Australia (87 ha), Chile (66 ha), Israel, Canada (8 ha), Mexico, New Zealand (4 ha) and South Africa (24 ha). In 2016, a total of 33,649 hectares of vineyards were designated. This puts it in 27th place in the global grape variety ranking (Kym Anderson).

Source: Wine Grapes / J. Robinson, J. Harding, J. Vouillamoz / Penguin Books Ltd. 2012
Images: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn Institute (JKI)

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Thomas Götz

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