The History Of Zinfandel

In 2001 Dr. Carole Meredith, a member of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, finally found the source of Zinfandel. It is an old Croatian variety called Crljenak Kastelanski from the Dalmation Coast of Croatia. The vineyard where is was found had only 9 vines left of this ancient grape. It is so old that it appears to be the parent of Croatia's most distinguished old grape, Plava Malic. How it came to California is a story that will never be fully known, but there are a few hints.

In the 1820s the original Zinfandel vines were brought to Long Island from the Imperial State Nursery in Vienna, Austria. The name of Zinfandel first appears in 1832 when a Boston nursery owner advertised "Zinfandel for Sale". It was probably after this time that Primitivo first appeared Italy, where it was believed to have been brought directly from Croatia. While Zinfandel and Primitivo are the same variety, there are definite clonal differences.

During the 1850s Zinfandel was brought to California from the New England states. At this point in history the Mission grape was the most common grape used for wine in California, but it produced a sweet wine which was inferior to the imported wines of the day. During the 1880s wine production in California grew from less than 5 million gallons to over 15 million gallons per year. The vast majority of this production used the Zinfandel grape, with a myriad of different spellings. It remained the most widely planted varietal in California until 1998, when Cabernet Sauvignon overtook it.