Zinfandel’s Mysterious Past – A Detective Story
It was a hot night and I was working on a tough case, trying to put a finger on Zinfandel’s nefarious past. To everyone it looked as if Zinfandel was all-American. The American wine grape, some would say, producing the greatest American variety of wine. But I wasn’t so sure. The grape wasn’t indigenous to California, or the good old USA for that matter. It had to come from somewhere else. But where?
Yeah, I know the popular viewpoint. It was proven back in the late 1960s at UC – Zinfandel was the same grape as one called Primitivo di Gioia which is found in Apulia, at the heel of southern Italy’s boot. "Okay," I said to myself, "but where did the name Zinfandel come from?"
Then I got a lead that took me to the catalogues of the most famous plant nursery in America back in 1830 – Prince’s of Long Island – which offered vines listed as “Black Zinfardel from Hungary.” But it didn’t stop there. Sure, Zinfandel was a misreading of Zinfardel, but then I wondered if Zinfardel was also a misreading of a Hungarian grape called Zierfandler. I did some quick checking. Nope, Zierfandler is a white grape. But wait a minute. In western Hungary there is a red grape known locally as Blauer (Blue) Zierfandler. Suddenly I realized how deep this thing really went. Blauer Zierfandler is also known as Kékfrankos alias Blaufränkisch alias Limberger. Somebody sure didn’t want me to get at the answers.
Some say that Agoston Haraszthy, the father of Californian winemaking in the 1850s and '60s, was also the father of California Zin. But I wasn’t buying it. He called himself a Hungarian Count and also a Colonel, but was he really? Back in Frisco he was charged with embezzling $151,000 worth of gold. He came to a bad end. Left California for Nicaragua to make rum. Fell into a stream of alligators. That was curtains for the good Count.
So the way I figure it is that if Zinfandel is the same grape as Primitivo, then they both must be the same as Blaufränkisch. But where did it all begin? Perhaps we’ll never know. My guess is that Zinfandel had its origins not in California, nor in Italy, nor in Hungary, but in that far outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Dalmatia, on the eastern coast of the Adriatic and only about a hundred miles from Apulia. This area saw the origins of many fine wine grapes later attributed to Western Europe, and was part of a major trade route. It’s just possible that Zinfandel originated here too.
But the trail was just too confusing. And anyway what did it matter? In America we all came originally from somewhere else, yet we still call ourselves Americans. I suppose we can say the same thing about Zinfandel. It still is the American wine grape, producing the greatest American type of wine. Try some.
Bill Stobbs, ABC Wine Supervisor
Follow me on Twitter @abcwinebills
