skip to main content

Lodi Winegrape Commission

  • Home
  • Wineries
  • About
  • Visit
    • Visitor Center
  • Club
  • Events
  • Store
    • LODI RULES Sustainable Certification
    • White Wines
    • Rosé Wines
    • Red Wines
    • Sparkling/Dessert Wines
    • Old Vine Wines
    • Merchandise
  • Blog
TOP

Letters from Lodi

An insightful and objective look at viticulture and winemaking from the Lodi
Appellation and the growers and vintners behind these crafts. Told from the
perspective of multi-award winning wine journalist, Randy Caparoso.

Randy Caparoso
 
January 26, 2012 | Randy Caparoso

Mom always loved Sorelle’s Primitivo best

The Sorelle estate in January, with the historic Dodge House (built 1866)

Another one of the Lodi American Viticultural Area’s gold medal winners at the prestigious 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition was the 2009 Sorelle, Manna Ranch Reserve Lodi Primitivo ($27):  a round, fleshy, velvety, medium bodied red, inundated with vibrant, smoke tinged raspberry and black cherry aromas, unimpeded by moderate, pliant tannin.

 

Perhaps even better yet?  The more modestly priced, but even finer and friendlier 2010 Sorelle Sorriso Lodi Primitivo ($22):  like any good Zinfandel – which it is, and isn’t – redolent of raspberry and black cherry qualities in the nose, tinged with wispy tobacco, with compellingly soft yet zesty, silky, finely balanced flavors.  Says Sorelle Winery proprietor, Mike Scott, “this wine has been tasting great from day one; in fact, probably since before day one… it was always our favorite wine to show in our barrel tasting events.”

Pour one of these Primitivos alongside a striploin grilled with cracked lemon pepper, a roll of pork loin coated with rosemary, or even just a salad with Italian herbed goat cheese, cherry tomatoes and a balsamic vinaigrette, and oh my…

Such, perhaps, is the lot of the Primitivo grape, which is becoming more and more of a go-to varietal for foodie oriented wine lovers who prefer finesse and pure drinkability over, say, big, honking red wines that give you those fierce, heady sensations, even after just a few sips.

One of the curiosities of Primitivo, of course, is the fact that this grape is identical to Zinfandel in respect to its DNA.  That is to say, Zinfandel and Primitivo are basically two clones of the same grape:  Zinfandel being far better known and more widely planted in California (since the 1850s); and Primitivo being pretty much a “rediscovered” grape, originally brought into the U.S. from Apulia (Southern Italy) in 1968, and planted in earnest only as results of the long search into the once mysterious origins of Zinfandel began to come to light.

But if Zinfandel is the same grape as Primitivo, why are they considered considered different; and thus judged, in competitions like the San Francisco Chronicle’s, as two separate categories?  Good question.  They are the same, but not exactly.  For instance, California growers working with Primitivo vines that originated in Apulia have noticed slightly different textures on the backsides of its leaves:  whereas the back of Zinfandel leaves have a rougher cobwebby consistency, the back of Primitivo leaves have a felty, “dense hair-like” texture.

More significant is differentials in fruit anatomy, which generally results in slightly different wines.  Zinfandel is notorious for setting uneven sized berries – ranging from small and raisiny to fat and pulpy  (growers often refer to this morphology as “hens and chicks”) – whereas Primitivo tends to set uniform, medium-full sized berries in slightly looser clusters, and are thus less prone to bunch rot as well as the raisiny or overripe flavors typifying Zinfandel.

Sorelle's Mike Scott with daughter Kim Scott

Primitivo’s even sized berries usually give less of that wildly aromatic, big alcohol, jammy rich character for which Zinfandel is known, and loved.  If Primitivo was Zinfandel’s identical twin (which it is), it would be the more demure, well behaved and dependable sibling – the one that mom always loved best.  Whereas Zinfandel would be the unpredictable one, often showing up late, or if at all, with a brazen attitude, multiple pierced body parts and wanton tattoos – but you gotta love that, too!

Finally, another differential that matters:  head trained (i.e. untrellised) Zinfandel vines have long been preferred by many growers precisely because of the tendency of the plant to set uneven sized berries — planting on free standing vines provides an umbrella-like canopy that protects the Zinfandel’s fruit’s tender skin from all angles of the sun, thus minimizing a little of the effect of the grape’s uneven ripening.  Un problema:  this means picking and thinning is done by hand.  But because uneven ripening is not such an issue for Primitivo, it does just fine on trellised systems, and thus can be harvested mechanically for less cost.  Not that hand picked Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel is terribly expensive (if anything, it’s amazingly under-priced); but economically, planting more Primitivo and less Zinfandel makes a lot of sense.

Otherwise, Zinfandel and Primitivo are one and the same — like Mary-Kate and Ashley, Tiki and Ronde, Dear Abby or Ann –  whether you know it or not.  At least for Lodi’s Harney Lane Winery, where regular bottlings of Zinfandel are made up of as much as 40% Primitivo; yet still retain all the luscious, juicy, wild berry fullness that a dyed-in-the-wool zin lover craves.  Then there are the Lodi grown varietal Primitivo bottlings by Uvaggio as well as Ripken Vineyards which, like Sorelle’s, are both correct if strikingly pretty and compelling offerings – first class all the way, and exactly what you expect out of the well heeled sibling!

The work that goes into Lodi's old vines in January

Tweet
Pin It

Comments

Commenting has been turned off.
Blog Search
Recent Posts
  • March 5, 2021
    The use of varietal as a term, its history and passing practicality
  • February 25, 2021
    All about terroir
  • February 22, 2021
    Why consumers never needed experts to tell them what they like (like Elvis and Zinfandel)
  • February 16, 2021
    A Lodi based sheep company begins work on sustainable vineyard farming
  • February 11, 2021
    Silicon Valley Bank's 2021 State of the U.S. Wine Industry report focuses on immediate and unimaginable challenges
  • February 9, 2021
    The dangers of COVID-19 to serious wine lovers
  • February 4, 2021
    In 2021, what's a wine brand to do to stay ahead?
  • January 27, 2021
    ZAP offers free Zinfandel livestream tastings and how Lodi Zinfandels compare to Zinfandels from other regions
  • January 25, 2021
    How Lodi wineries have adjusted to pandemic challenges and changes in how they do business
  • January 19, 2021
    French students break down Lodi winegrowing, marketing, and its Alta Mesa appellation
Our Writers
  • Randy Caparoso (813)
Blog Archives
2021
  • March 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (6)
  • January 2021 (6)
2020
  • December 2020 (7)
  • November 2020 (7)
  • October 2020 (6)
  • September 2020 (7)
  • August 2020 (7)
  • July 2020 (7)
  • June 2020 (8)
  • May 2020 (8)
  • April 2020 (8)
  • March 2020 (8)
  • February 2020 (6)
  • January 2020 (6)
2019
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (6)
  • October 2019 (6)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (5)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (6)
  • April 2019 (6)
  • March 2019 (6)
  • February 2019 (5)
  • January 2019 (7)
2018
  • December 2018 (7)
  • November 2018 (7)
  • October 2018 (9)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (8)
  • June 2018 (7)
  • May 2018 (9)
  • April 2018 (8)
  • March 2018 (9)
  • February 2018 (8)
  • January 2018 (8)
2017
  • December 2017 (6)
  • November 2017 (8)
  • October 2017 (10)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (6)
  • July 2017 (7)
  • June 2017 (6)
  • May 2017 (5)
  • April 2017 (7)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (5)
  • January 2017 (7)
2016
  • December 2016 (7)
  • November 2016 (8)
  • October 2016 (7)
  • September 2016 (7)
  • August 2016 (5)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (7)
  • May 2016 (6)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (7)
  • February 2016 (6)
  • January 2016 (5)
2015
  • December 2015 (8)
  • November 2015 (6)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (5)
  • August 2015 (6)
  • July 2015 (7)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • May 2015 (5)
  • April 2015 (6)
  • March 2015 (6)
  • February 2015 (7)
  • January 2015 (5)
2014
  • December 2014 (8)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (7)
  • September 2014 (5)
  • August 2014 (3)
  • July 2014 (5)
  • June 2014 (6)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (7)
  • March 2014 (5)
  • February 2014 (4)
  • January 2014 (7)
2013
  • December 2013 (8)
  • November 2013 (6)
  • October 2013 (7)
  • September 2013 (5)
  • August 2013 (6)
  • July 2013 (4)
  • June 2013 (4)
  • May 2013 (4)
  • April 2013 (5)
  • March 2013 (2)
  • February 2013 (2)
  • January 2013 (4)
2012
  • December 2012 (7)
  • November 2012 (9)
  • October 2012 (9)
  • September 2012 (7)
  • August 2012 (9)
  • July 2012 (8)
  • June 2012 (8)
  • May 2012 (9)
  • April 2012 (8)
  • March 2012 (9)
  • February 2012 (7)
  • January 2012 (9)
2011
  • December 2011 (7)
  • November 2011 (8)
  • October 2011 (7)
  • September 2011 (7)
  • August 2011 (8)
  • July 2011 (8)
  • June 2011 (9)
  • May 2011 (7)
  • April 2011 (9)
  • March 2011 (8)
  • February 2011 (8)
  • January 2011 (7)
2010
  • December 2010 (8)
  • November 2010 (6)
  • October 2010 (2)
  • September 2010 (6)
  • August 2010 (5)
Additional Resources
  • Media & Trade
  • Lodi Winegrape Commission
  • Donation Requests
  • Returns & Cancellations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
Contact

Lodi Wine Visitor Center
2545 West Turner Road Lodi, CA 95242
209.365.0621
Open: Thursday - Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm

Lodi Winegrape Commission
2545 West Turner Road, Lodi, CA 95242
209.367.4727
Open: Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm

Have a question? Complete our contact form.

  • © Copyright 2021 Lodi Winegrape Commission
  • Winery Ecommerce by WineDirect