Croatian Grapes

Tribidrag
Crljenak Kaštelanski

Tribidrag (Crljenak Kaštelanski) was born in Dalmatia, where it almost disappeared after phylloxera. The grape was transported to Italy in the 18th century under the name Primitivo, and then brought to the States, where it was introduced as Zinfandel.

Tribidrag

Zinfandel, Primitivo, Crljenak Kastelanski and Tribidrag are all genetically identical.

Tribidrag is the oldest recorded name for the variety and by the rule of anteriority the correct name.

Primitivo in Italy

Italian Primitivo is known for producing intensely flavored and deeply colored wines, particularly Primitivo di Manduria, a classic Primitivo wine with high alcohol and high tannins.

In the late 1970s, some Italian wine producers started to label Primitivo wines as Zinfandel, because of Zinfandel's popularity in the USA.

Today, thanks to the famous Primitivo from Manduria, US vineyards has started to label their Zinfandel wines as Primitivo.

Zinfandel in USA

The Zinfandel grape grown in USA is the same as the Italian Primitivo grape from Puglia in Italy.

In USA, Zinfandel is most famous in California where it grows in over 10 percent of all the vineyards.

In California it typically produces robust red wines that can be fermented up to 15% percent alcohol.

But, a semi-sweet rosé called White Zinfandel has six times the sales of the red.