engleski

Origin of the cultivars Plavac mali and Zinfandel

The recent discovery that the Dalmatian cultivar Plavac mali, the most important red wine cultivar in Croatia, is genetically closely related to Zinfandel, perhaps even its parent or offspring, has provided strong support for a Dalmatian origin for Zinfandel, despite the presence of the same cultivar in Italy under the name Primitivo. To further investigate the connection between Zinfandel and South Dalmatia, we have analyzed additional cultivars from this region. Because it is now known that many wine cultivars have arisen from natural crosses, we have taken particular interest in cultivars with physiologically female flowers, such as Grk, Barjanka, Bratkovina and Cetinka, and cultivars like Plavac mali and Plavina that could have served as their pollinators. We hypothesize that the island of Korčula might have been a particularly rich source for the emergence of new cultivars because it has a favorable climate for grapevines, is geographically isolated, has a long winemaking tradition (written evidence from 4th century B.C.), and was historically an important crossroads between Greece, Rome and Venice. The above-mentioned cultivars have been grown on Korčula for centuries. We analyzed 19 cultivars from the southern part of Croatia (primarily Korčula) at 25 SSR loci and compared them to over 300 cultivars in the UC Davis database, which includes some Italian cultivars. Genotypes at all loci are consistent with Plavac mali being the progeny of Zinfandel and an unnamed Dalmatian cultivar (misnamed in a collection as Plavac mali), which would make Zinfandel an even older cultivar than Plavac mali. A probability analysis of this parentage will be presented. The SSR genotypes at all loci also support a parent or offspring relationship between Zinfandel and the Dalmatian cultivars Grk, Plavina and Vranac, thus providing additional genetic evidence for the Dalmatian origin of Zinfandel.

nije evidentirano

nije evidentirano