miles wrote:

> The studies I read did show them very closely related but the Zin grape
> did not come from Primitivo. So they both came from some other grape
> such as Crljenak?

It's certainly possible. The history of Primitivo in Puglia only goes
back 150 years (demurral: it may have been there much longer but not
been officially recognized), which then forces the question of where it
came from, along with where Zin came from (it's known that Zin arrived
in the US from the Imperial botanical collection of the Austro-Hungarian
empire, but the name is a bit of disinformation since it's a corruption
of Zierfandler, a white grape). So, Croatia is a perfectly logical
source, since it resides across the Adriatic from Italy and was in the
Hapsburg empire in the 19th Century. There is also speculation that it
may have reached there from Albania or Greece, so who knows?

Mark Lipton

Joseph Coulter wrote:

> Uhh, you said and I quote
> "Sure there are producers in the USA that borrow names. However, they
> make no attempt to claim the name as their own. The wine is named after
> the grape used."
>
> CA Chablis was named after a French region and had none of the varietal
> in it.
>

As did "Champagne," "Burgundy," "Rhinewine," "Port" and assorted other
"borrowed" names.

Mark Lipton

Joseph Coulter wrote:

> but that is not true the producers named the wines after the region not
> the grape. I will not discuss this further as you are obviously not
> trying to be consistent in your argument.

Oh bother! Didn't know you were here to argue. I also stated that low
end jug wines in the USA name their products anything and everything
without reason. Chablis in the USA is a cheap low end jug wine. Jug
wines are made from any grape a winemaker chooses.

Mark Lipton wrote:

> As did "Champagne," "Burgundy," "Rhinewine," "Port" and assorted other
> "borrowed" names.

True but those are regions, not grapes. I also find those names on USA
products only on low end jug wines etc. where anything goes. I've never
seen a Krug Champagne for instance, but I have seen a sparkling wine.