Zinfandel and Primitivo
Americans like choices and the Zinfandel grape provides itself with many options. Stylistically, beyond table wine, Zinfandel can range from being fortified and heavy as found in a Zinfandel Port to light and sweet like a White Zinfandel. According to Zinfandel winemaker, Val Harazthy “Zinfandel is the chameleon of the wine business. No other grape morphs and changes from one growing appellation to another than Zinfandel. That's my opinion. You can pour a regular person Lodi, and you can pour them, Amador, you can pour them Napa, and you can pour them Sonoma and they will all go, ‘Oh, that's completely different.’ That's not necessarily the case when you do that with Cabernet or Pinot Noir.”
Common Synonyms
- Italy: Primitivo
- Croatia: Crljenak kaštelanski, Pribidrag , Tribidrag
Labeling
Though the same varietal, U.S. labeling laws do not allow Primitivo and Zinfandel to be used interchangeably. European labeling laws, however, do allow European wineries to call Primitivo “Zinfandel” and vice versa.