Wine Variety: What a fascinating thing is this grape. It's most long-standing synonym is Tribidrag, a fact that probably won't have you slapping your forehead in amazement. Yet by some means or other Tribidrag made its way to Puglia in southern Italy and thence to California in which locales it is respectively known as Primitivo and Zinfandel. Let the frontal assault commence. Further, no one really has much idea how the grape arrived in CA. It seems most likely that it was sent - along with every other vine known to the Austrian Empire - to the US from Austria sometime around the beginning of the 19th century. In any event, this Croatian variety hinted at its origins with the Italian synonym (now obsolete) Zagarese i.e. native of Zagreb.

Wine Region: The Republic of North Macedonia is a landlocked country that used to be part of Yugoslavia. Indeed, greater Macedonia also covered parts of Greece and Bulgaria, too. The Greeks still dispute the use of the name. 85% of the country's vineyard area is within the central River Vardar valley; 41% in Tikves, from where comes this wine. It is now thought that this region is the cradle of global wine production. Recent investment has given rise to a resurgence of quality in the Republic of Macedonia.

Wine Producer: Tikves Winery opened its doors 130 years ago and is apparently the largest and oldest winery in south-east Europe. Bought in 2003 by the Texas-based M6 Investment Group, Tikves has been the beneficiary of €30M of new investment and is now a fully modernised winery.