Decanter World Wine AwardsGlossary terms
Zinfandel (red)
Known as Primitivo, it also flourishes in Puglia, around
Manduria, producing similarly big, albeit more savoury, reds. Like South
Africa's Pinotage, it has recently undergone a major revival in California, so
much so that Italy, ironically, has recently won the right to the use of the
name Zinfandel for Primitivo.
What dose it taste like?
- brambly and raspberryish
- headily spicy
In its pink incarnation, ZINFANDEL, sometimes known as white ZINFANDEL, tends to be light, sweetish and bland. Take it seriously though and it produces powerfully-constructed, brambly, reds with raspberry and blackberry-like flavours and plenty of tannins and spice. It is believed to be the same grape, or virtually the same grape as southern Italy's primitivo, which is equally capable of producing heady, robustly spicy reds.
