The Origins of Zinfandel
A Croatian Immigrant in America
In 1958, when Miljenko “Mike” Grgich arrived in Napa and went to work for Lee Stewart at Souverain Cellars, he noticed that Zinfandel looked like his native Plavac Mali, but he read that Zinfandel had an unknown origin. On his trip to Croatia in August 1993, Mike took cuttings of clusters, leaves, and canes of Zinfandel. Mike also discovered a book written by Dr. Peter Maleš describing the similarities between Zinfandel, Primitivo, and Plavac Mali. In his opinion, they were the same variety.
A (Wine) World-Changing Discovery
In 1998 Mike invited Dr. Carole Meredith from the University of California, Davis to his home in Yountville to show her the book and translated it into English for her. That same year she went to Croatia and took samples of 150 Plavac Mali vines. Back in the lab at the University of California, Davis, she discovered that none of these were Zinfandel, but they were genetically related. University of Zagreb professors Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić continued the search for the original Zinfandel.
Then, on September 7, 2000 near Split in Kaštel Novi, Professor Maletić discovered an old vine called Kaštelanski Crljenak. Samples were sent to Dr. Meredith for DNA analysis and eight different tests all proved that it was the same as the Zinfandel found in California.
Croatian Winemaking: A Legacy
To this day, a monument stands in Croatia, near where those few ancient Crljenak Kaštelanski vines grew. It reads:
“The son of Croatia, Miljenko Grgich, in faraway California, discovered and scientifically proved Zinfandel is Crljenak Kaštelanski, and its land of birth is Croatia. Very deep thanks for his heartfelt dedication and promotion of Croatian winemaking and wine growing to a worldwide level.”
Ancient Vines, Incredible Wines
In April of 2012, Grgich Hills Estate received a single plant – a Crljenak Kaštelanski vine imported to the United States from those ancient Croatian vines discovered by Dr. Meredith and her team. From that little sprout (pictured with Mike Grgich on the left), we’ve now cultivated 2 acres of Crljenak Kaštelanski in our Calistoga vineyard, where it thrives near our 135+ year-old Zinfandel vines. We source exclusively from these 2 acres in the production of one of our most unique wines: Miljenko’s Selection Crljenak Kaštelanski.