Wines made from Primitivo grapes of Ticino
Discover the best wines made with Primitivo as a single variety or as a blend of Ticino.
From Croatia where it is called crljenak kastelanski or pribidrag. According to genetic analyses carried out by Professor Carole Meredith of California University in Davis (United States), it is related to the Croatian plavac mali and Zinfandel. It is also found in South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, Germany, Bulgaria, Albania, Italy under the name of Primitivo, Malta, Greece, Portugal and to some extent in Croatia. In the United States (California), it is one of the most widely planted grape varieties, having been introduced in the 1830s well before Primitivo. In France, it is registered in the official catalogue of vine varieties on the A1 list under the name Primitivo.
Ticino is a relatively small wine region in the alpine South of Switzerland, prized for its Merlot, and located along its border with Italy. The wine region's borders follow those of the canton of Ticino, a primarily Italian-speaking enclave in the landlocked multilingual country (the canton is called "Tessin" by the French and German speakers). Vineyard">Vineyards in region cover just over 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) and are centred around the rivers and large, alpine lakes of the canton. The latter are a major tourist attraction - much like the lake of Como, just 5km (3 miles) from Ticino's southernmost tip - and they all share water with Italy.