Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/391696
108 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 decided that a journey to Dalmatia to investigate Plavac Mali was essential. All she needed was the right contact in Croatia. "So here's Ivan asking for my help to use DNA profiling to sort out old Croatian grapes and here's me, looking for some - one in Croatia who could help me find Zinfandel. A perfect fit!" M eredith recalls. In May 1998 Meredith embarked on a tour—dubbed "Zinquest"—of Dalmatia's coastal vineyards. Guided by Pejic ´ and Maletic ´ and assisted by Jasenka Piljac, Meredith collected leaf samples from 148 Plavac Mali vines from 45 vineyards sites on the Pelješac peninsula and the islands of Hvar and Korc ˇula. But it wasn't to be. None of the samples Meredith brought back to the UC Davis labs exactly matched Zinfandel. A Mystery Solved With the key piece of the puzzle still elusive, the search was nonetheless getting warmer. Further DNA analysis of leaf material harvested in Croatia indicated a "high degree of relatedness" between Plavac Mali and Zinfandel—perhaps a parent/ offspring relationship. Three other local varieties, Grk, Plavina and Vranac, shared genetic markers with Zinfandel, suggesting that it was once a very old and important cultivar in the area. The presence of a Zinfandel genetic pool in Dalmatia gave Meredith hope. The "original Zin" had to be somewhere in Croatia! For the remainder of 1998 through 2000 Pejic ´ and Maletic ´ scoured—row by row—old vineyards along Croatia's coast and islands, following every lead and examining every leaf. Meanwhile in her lab at Davis, Dr. Meredith continued to ana - lyze DNA fingerprints of vines from Croatia, cross-referenced data against information contained in the university's database of profiled cultivars. Soon she made a startling and significant discovery: Zinfandel plus an old Dalmatian variety from Šolta island called Dobricˇic ´ were the parent vines of Plavac Mali. With renewed gusto the search focused on Šolta and vineyards around Split. Late 2000 delivered a breakthrough: Pejic ´ and Maletic ´ learned of a 2.5 acre, 35 year-old plot of mixed varieties in Kaštel Novi. The vineyard's owner, Ivica Radunic ´, reportedly wasn't sure himself what grew there, as many of the vines in the "field blend" were planted by his grandfather. One immediately caught everyone's attention for its physiological resemblance to Zinfandel. Once again, none of the samples matched. The suspect vine turned out to be another local variety, Babica. After three years searching, Pejic ´ and Maletic ´ were nearly out of funds and felt demoralized. In the spring of 2001, in a last ditch effort they decided to revisit Radunic ´'s vineyard. Noticing that many of vine stalks were intertwined and easy to confuse, they carefully collected new samples from a specimen Radunic ´ identified as Crljenak Kaštelanski. The results arrived on December 18, 2001. "We have a match for Zinfandel. Quite convincingly, finally!" Meredith reportedly wrote in an email to Pejic ´ and Maletic ´. "ZPCT" "Zinfandel comes from Croatia," declared Meredith in a 2002 press release. "The grape we call Zinfandel and the Italians call Primitivo are both Crljenak Kaštelanski." As it turned out, Mr. Radunic ´'s vineyard in Kaštel Novi con - tained eight more Crljenak Kaštelanski vines. Others were even- tually located near Omiš, where locals referred to the variety as Pribidrag, a variation of Tribidrag—the ancient Croatian name first mentioned in the 14th century. Because Tribidrag is the oldest recorded name for the variety, it takes precedence by the rule of anteriority. Jancis Robinson, co-author of the essential tome Wine Grapes, under the entry for Zinfandel simply states, "See Tribidrag." Meredith offers a simpler approach, referring to the assortment of synonyms as "ZPCT": Zinfandel/ Primitivo/Crljenak/ Tribidrag. The Revitalization The handful of Zinfandel vines discovered in Croatia in 2001 propagated to over 2,000 by 2008. Today, more than 400,000 ZPCT vines have taken root in a massive repatriation initiative. Zlatan Plenkovic´, a leading producer from Hvar, sowed over 50,000 vines in the foothills of the Dinaric Alps near seaside Makarska. Around Radunic´'s vineyard in Kaštel Novi local vintners have embraced their prodigal grape by planting over PHOTOS: CLIFF RAMES A steep seaside Zinfandel vineyard on the Pelješac Peninsula in Dalmatia. (Right) Crljenak Kas ˇtelanski vines discovered on Pelješac.