Would you enjoy a glass of Bouchet? How about Enfin, or Menut or Petite Vidure? Around the world, and often even from region to region grapes can be know by many names. Each of these are actually synonyms for Cabernet Sauvignon, the world's most ubiquitous varietal.

Even the world "varietal" is fraught with confusion. We commonly use the term to refer to different types of grapes, and indeed the more precisely accurate term "cultivar" only leads to confusion. That confusion is nothing though compare to what the many names of grapes hath wrought.

Weiß Burgunder is another name for Pinot Blanc

Carménère, Chile's darling, is sometimes known as Cabernet Gernischt, especially in China, where it was thought to actually be Cabernet Franc. This is only fair since much of the planting of Cabernet Franc in Italy turned out to actually be Carménère or Cabernet Sauvignon. Carménère, meanwhile in Chile was though for generations to be Merlot. Much of this confusion is due to the incestuous nature of these grapes. Carménère begat Cabernet Franc which in turn begat Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot too sprang from Carménère and is a cousin of Cabernet Sauvignon and that other South American favorite, Malbec.

In the south of France Piquepoul is not to be confused with Piqepoul, which is actually Cinsault and may be growing along side the similarly named grape. Say Muscat and you evoke an entire family of over 200 varieties of grapes. Weiß Burgunder is another name for Pinot Blanc, except when it is another name for Chardonnay.

Take a cutting, add it to a vineyard with other cuttings and a few generations later it is pretty common to end up not knowing exactly what is what. This has been repeated time and again around the world, producing great wines, and great confusion.

It was held that Zin had come from Italy

The story of how Zinfandel finally found its home is a great example of how circuitous this dance can be. This noble grape was widely planted in California before that disastrous experiment with prohibition. During those years that wine was not being widely made, the vines fell fallow, only to be rediscovered a generation later as wine's resurgent popularity brought them back into focus.

For many Zinfandel was a grape they associated with too often insipid pink wine, but as consumers and winemakers began to see the charm of the fruit from these often ancient vines, the delightfully jammy and rich red product became more popular. As interest in the grape grew, so did the desire to learn of its origins. For some time it was held that Zin had come from Italy where it was known as Primativo. It would turn out rather that the Primativo of Italy came from the same source, but independently and in an unrelated journey to that of Zinfandel.

It was through the backing of Croation born and Zin loving Mike Grigch of the eponymous winery fame, and others of the wonderfully abbreviated Zinfandel Advocates and Producers group (ZAP) that we would finally learn the truth. They sent famed grape sleuth Carole Meredithe of UC Davis off to hunt the vineyards of Croatia to bring back cuttings of Plavec Mali, suspected of being the source of Zinfandel. It turned out they had found an descendent, but not yet the elusive Zin itself.

DNA Fingerprinting

That Zin was a parent of Plavec Mali led them to the Adriatic island of Šolta, home of Plavec's other parent, the ancient grape Dobričić. Hunting through the vineyards of the Dalmatian Coastal islands they at last stumbled onto a plot of just nine remaining vines of Crljenak Kaštelanski, discovering at last the source of Zinfandel. This hunt and its revelations has led to Zinfandel being referred to in academic circles as "ZPC" – Zinfandel / Primitivo / Crljenak Kaštelanski.

None of this would have been possible without the technology known as DNA Fingerprinting. Hidden behind similar looking leaves, and grapes that produce different juice under differing circumstances, vines often only reveal their true nature when examined at their most personal level. Their ancestry revealed in the helixes that can not be forged or mistaken.

Next time you raise your golden glass of wine, be it called Pinot de Bourgogne or Auxerrois Blanc or as it is more commonly known, Chardonnay, toast to the intrepid ampelographers who have been sorting through the thickets of grape leaves for the elusive familial connections of today's varietals.