2017 Lytton Estate Tribidrag

Peppery raspberry and floral aromas, followed by a medium-bodied palate of lacy black cherry fruit, subtle tannins and refreshing acidity. JO (6/20)

Though zinfandel found its home in California, its roots trace back well over a thousand years to Croatia where its historic name is Tribidrag. In 2014 we planted cuttings from three surviving vines from the Dalmatian coast. 2017 marks the first harvest from this vineyard block. The wine exhibits well-defined red fruit, firm acidity and balanced tannins. It can be enjoyed as a young wine and over the next six to seven years.

Tribidrag is the ancient name of Zinfandel. Tribidrag flourished along the Adriatic Coast of what is now Croatia, where it was a favored wine in the courts of the Venetian Empire. The viticultural mystery of Zinfandel’s origin was unraveled in 2001, when researchers from the University of Zagreb and the University of California, Davis, matched the DNA profile of a minor grape in the Kastela region near Split named Crljenak kastelanski to Zinfandel (and Primitivo). Further investigation found more remnant vines of Pribidrag in Croatia and Kratosija in Montenegro, all identical genetically to Zinfandel. Research in Venetian and Dalmatian records found the most famous name for this grape to be Tribidrag, which was the most abundant black grape variety in Dalmatia in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Ridge helped bring cuttings of Crljenak kastelanski and Pribidrag to California to UC Davis to be part of the grapevine clean stock program. In 2013 virus-free cuttings of these vines were repatriated to Croatia and in 2014 we planted one acre of each clone at Lytton Springs. 2017 marks our first harvest from these clones.

Rainfall: 61.5 inches (above normal)
Bloom: May
Weather: A wet winter gave us much-needed rain. Cool weather in the spring affected set across all varieties.

Harvest Dates: 7 September
Grapes: Average Brix 23.9˚
TA: 6.84 g/L
pH: 3.44
Fermentation: Natural primary and secondary; daily pump-overs; pressed at seven days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (33% one year-old, 33% three years-old, and 34% four years-old).
Aging: Fourteen months in barrel

Hand-harvested, organically grown estate grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally-occurring malolactic bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush and 119 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 90.8

No. of Tasting Notes: 6

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