The Origins of Zinfandel

I came across this interesting article on the origins of Zinfandel in Tasting Table and learned that there is a group called Zinfandel Advocates & Producers, or ZAP, an organization that celebrates all things Zinfandel. This article hooked me and reeled me in, in so many different ways.

First of all, it began by siting the Trincheros who purchased Sutter Home Winery in 1948. I wrote about the Trincheros in a blogpost that I titled Sometimes a Stuck Fermentation...., in it I confess that Sutter Home White Zinfandel was one of my go to wines. (Drinking wine must begin somewhere!) This sweet blush wine and the best seller that it became saved the Zinfandel grape from being totally replaced by sexier varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon in California.
Secondly, one of the mysteries of Zinfandel was it's country of origin. It was observed that Zinfandel and Primitivo from Italy appeared to be the same grape variety. Prof. Carole Meredith, highly acclaimed UC Davis plant genetist, observed that Primitivo grew in Puglia, just across the Adriatic Sea from Croatia. She became interested in researching the grape varieties in Croatia. In 1997, Prof. Meredith and a Croatian team together tramped through vineyards until they found a scant handful of vines that turned out to be an ancient grape variety called Crljenak Kaštelanski, which Prof. Meredith determined is genetically the same as the grape we call Zinfandel (and also Primitivo). With the help of a historian, Prof. Meredith traced the history of the grape variety to the Middle Ages when it was an important variety in the Adriatic region, which was then called Tribidrag.
Thirdly, I had written about Founder Varieties from an article written by Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times on October 2012, called "Where it all began...", where Jancis Robinson lists Tribidrag as a founder variety.

Variety

Description

Tribidrag

Tribidrag is also known as Crljenak Kastelanski and Pribidrag in Croatia, Primitivo in Puglia and, most famously, as Zinfandel in California. This ancient variety migrated across the Adriatic to Puglia and thence to California – probably via nurserymen in Vienna and New England. Since its origins have been definitively identified as Croatian, it has been enthusiastically planted there, with the total number of known vines having mushroomed from 20 to more than 200,000. The Zinfandel connection also halted a widespread decline in the area planted with Primitivo in Italy, particularly in the western Salento peninsula in Puglia. But most of the world’s plantings are to be found in California, where it is the second most popular variety after Cabernet Sauvignon. Some of these vines are 100 years old in some of the world’s oldest vineyards. Wines vary from syrupy pale pink “White” Zinfandel to spicy, long-lived relics of the state’s early Italian immigrants.

Lastly, I followed the link to Prof. Meredith's website Lagier Meredith at the end of the article and looked at all of the information including the type of wines that she and her husband, Steve Lagier make and sell. They offer their Tribidrag (aka Zinfandel) as well as a wine called Precious Bane.
I was interested in why Prof. Meredith named her wine Precious Bane because I read a book by Mary Webb called "Precious Bane" because Jancis Robinson had alluded to that book as the reason why her first name is Jancis. So, a little more sleuthing. Googling Jancis Robinson and Precious Bane lead me to Jancis Robinson's site Jancis Robinson – the long version, where I discovered a surprising answer. In January 2013 Jancis Robinson learned that by a strange coincidence Professor Carole Meredith, a grape geneticist and co-owner of Lagier Meredith vineyard and winery on Mount Veeder high above the Napa Valley, is the great niece of Mary Webb. Her paternal grandfather's sister, maiden name Gladys Mary Meredith, was the author of Precious Bane!
This very strange and interesting cosmic connection had me hooked and I just had to blog about it!
References:
1. Meggan Robinson, "The Origins of Zinfandel", Tasting Table, January 21, 2023.