Primitivo is a tiny black skinned grape variety historically grown in Puglia, the heel part of Italy. The style of wine that it produces are typically spicy ripe reds with strawberry like fruit character.

Until the magic of DNA fingerprinting arrived no knew that Primitivo, Zinfandel and some obsscure Croatian grape called Crljenak Kaštelanski are infact genetically the same. How the grape made its way over the Atlantic and adopted the name Zinfandel is a mystery, what we do know is that the first mention of Zinfadel in California appears in the mid-19th Century.  Perhaps it made its way across with Italian migrants.

 

Back to top