Zinfandel
Encyclopedia
Zinfandel is a variety
of red grape
planted in over 10 percent of California vineyards
. DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatia
n grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in Puglia (the "heel" of Italy
), where it was introduced in the 18th century. The grape found its way to the United States in the mid-19th century, and became known by variations of the name "Zinfandel", a name of uncertain origin.
The grapes typically produce a robust red wine, although a semi-sweet rosé
(blush-style) wine called White Zinfandel
has six times the sales of the red wine in the United States
. The grape's high sugar content can be ferment
ed into levels of alcohol exceeding 15 percent.
The taste of the red wine depends on the ripeness of the grapes from which it is made. Red berry fruits like raspberry
predominate in wines from cooler areas, whereas blackberry
, anise
and pepper
notes are more common in wines made in warmer areas and in wines made from the earlier-ripening Primitivo clone.
region around 6000 BCE, and winemaking
was discovered shortly after. Cultivation of the vine subsequently spread to the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. Croatia once had several indigenous varieties related to Zinfandel, which formed the basis of its wine industry in the 19th century. This diversity suggests that the grapes existed in Croatia longer than anywhere else. However, these varieties were almost entirely wiped out by the phylloxera
epidemic of the late 19th century, reducing Zinfandel to just nine vines of locally-known "Crljenak Kaštelanski" discovered in 2001 on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia.
The first documented use of the term Primitivo appears in Italian governmental publications of the 1870s. The name derives from the terms primativus or primaticcio, which refer to the grape's tendency to ripen earlier than other varieties. This name's appearance 40 years after the first documented use of the term Zinfandel was previously thought to suggest that Primitivo was introduced to Italy from across the Atlantic; however, this hypothesis became unlikely since the discovery of the vine's Croatian origin.
Primitivo is now thought to have been introduced as a distinct clone into the Puglia region of Italy in the 18th century. Don Francesco Filippo Indellicati, the priest of the church at Gioia del Colle
near Bari
, selected an early ("primo") ripening plant of the Zagarese variety and planted it in Liponti. This clone ripened at the end of August and became widespread throughout northern Puglia. Cuttings came to the other great Primitivo DOC (denominazione di origine controllata
or "denomination of controlled origin") as part of the dowry of the Countess Sabini of Altamura
when she married Don Tommaso Schiavoni-Tafuri of Manduria
in the late 19th century.
, Austria
, which likely obtained the vines during the Habsburg Monarchy
's rule over Croatia, which was expanded when Austria acquired the Dalmatia
n territories of the former Republic of Venice
in 1797. George Gibbs, a horticulturist on Long Island
, received shipments of grapes from Schönbrunn
and elsewhere in Europe between 1820 and 1829. Sullivan suggests that the "Black Zinfardel of Hungary" mentioned by William Robert Prince in A Treatise on the Vine (1830) may have referred to one of Gibbs' 1829 acquisitions. Webster suggests that the name is a corruption of tzinifándli (czirifandli), a Hungarian word derived from the German Zierfandler
, a white grape (Gruener Sylvaner) from Austria's
Thermenregion.
Gibbs visited Boston in 1830, and Samuel Perkins of that city began selling "Zenfendal" soon afterward. In 1830, Gibbs also supplied Prince with "Black St. Peters", a similar variety may have come from England, where many vines have "St. Peters" in their names. Little is known about this vine, except that the Black St. Peters that arrived in California in the 1850s was the same as what became known as Zinfandel by the 1870s.
By 1835 Charles M. Hovey, Boston’s leading nurseryman, was recommending "Zinfindal" as a table grape, and it was soon widely grown in heated greenhouses for the production of table grapes as early as June. The first reference to making wine from "Zinfindal" appears in John Fisk Allen's Practical Treatise in the Culture and Treatment of the Grape Vine (1847). Meanwhile the fad of hothouse cultivation faded in the 1850s as attention turned to the Concord and other grape varieties that could be grown outdoors in Boston.
in the 1850s, and took Zinfandel with them. Prince's notebook records that the grape dried "perfectly to Raisin" and that he believed his Zinfandel was the same as the "Black Sonora" he found in California. When the vine known as "Black St. Peters" arrived in California, it was initially regarded as a distinct variety, but by the 1870s it was recognized as the same grape as Zinfandel.
Joseph W. Osborne may have made the first wine from Zinfandel in California. He planted Zinfandel from Macondray at his Oak Knoll vineyard just north of Napa, and his wine was much praised in 1857. Planting of Zinfandel boomed soon after, and by the end of the 19th century it was the most widespread variety in California.
These Zinfandel old vine
s are now treasured for the production of premium red wine, but many were ripped up in the 1920s, during the Prohibition
years (1920–1933), but not for the obvious reason. Even during the Prohibition, home winemaking remained effectively legal, and some vineyards embraced the sale of grapes for making wine at home. While Zinfandel grapes proved popular among home winemakers living near the vineyards, it was vulnerable to rot on the long journey to East Coast markets. The thick-skinned Alicante Bouschet
was less susceptible to rot, so this and similar varieties were widely planted for the home winemaking market. Three thousand cars (about 38000 t) of Zinfandel grapes were shipped in 1931, compared to 6000 cars of Alicante Bouschet.
and Prohibition. Many vineyards that survived by supplying the home market were located in California's Central Valley, a non-optimal environment for growing quality Zinfandel. Thus, the end of Prohibition left a shortage of quality wine grapes, and Zinfandel sank into obscurity as most was blended into undistinguished fortified wines. However, some producers remained interested in making single varietal
red wines.
By the middle of the 20th century the origins of California Zinfandel had been forgotten. In 1972, one British wine writer wrote, "there is a fascinating Californian grape, the zinfandel, said to have come from Hungary, but apparently a cépage now unknown there." In 1974 and 1981, American wine writers described it as "a California original, grown nowhere else" and "California's own red grape".
In 1972, Bob Trinchero of the Sutter Home Winery
decided to try draining some juice from the vats in order to impart more tannins and color to his Deaver Vineyard Zinfandel. He vinified this juice as a dry wine, and tried to sell it under the name of Oeil de Perdrix
, a French wine made by this saignée method. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insisted on an English translation, so he added "White Zinfandel" to the name, and sold 220 cases. At the time, demand for white wine exceeeded the availability of white wine grapes, encouraging other California producers to make "white" wine from red grapes, with minimal skin contact. However, in 1975, Trinchero's wine experienced a stuck fermentation
, a problem in which the yeast dies off before all the sugar is converted to alcohol
. He put the wine aside for two weeks, then tasted it and decided to sell this pinker, sugary wine. Just as Mateus Rosé had become a huge success in Europe after World War II, this medium sweet White Zinfandel became immensely popular. White Zinfandel still accounts for 9.9% of U.S. wine sales by volume (6.3% by value), six times the sales of red Zinfandel. Most white Zinfandel is made from grapes grown for that purpose in California's Central Valley.
Wine critics considered white Zinfandel to be insipid and uninteresting in the 1970s and 1980s, although modern white Zinfandels have more fruit and less cloying sweetness. Nevertheless, the success of this blush wine
saved many old vines in premium areas, which came into their own at the end of the 20th century as red Zinfandel wines came back into fashion. Although the two wines taste dramatically different, both are made from the same (red) grapes, processed in a different way.
Zinfandel was long considered "America's vine and wine", but when University of California, Davis
(UCD) professor Austin Goheen visited Italy
in 1967, he noticed how wine made from Primitivo reminded him of Zinfandel. Others also made the connection about that time. Primitivo was brought to California in 1968, and ampelographers declared it identical to Zinfandel in 1972. The first wine made from these California vines in 1975 also seemed identical to Zinfandel. In 1975, PhD student Wade Wolfe showed that the two varieties had identical isozyme fingerprints.
Dr. Lamberti of Bari had suggested to Goheen in 1976 that Primitivo might be the Croatian variety Plavac Mali
. By 1982 Goheen had confirmed that they were similar but not identical, probably by isozyme analysis. Some Croatians, however, became convinced that Plavac Mali was the same as Zinfandel, among them Croatian-born winemaker Mike Grgich
. In 1991 Grgich and other producers came together as the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) with the objectives of promoting the varietal and wine, and supporting scientific research on Zinfandel. With this support, UCD professor Carole Meredith
went to Croatia and collected over 150 samples of Plavac Mali throughout Dalmatia, in collaboration with the University of Zagreb
.
In 1993, Meredith used a DNA fingerprinting technique to confirm that Primitivo and Zinfandel are clones of the same variety. Comparative field trials have found that "Primitivo selections were generally superior to those of Zinfandel, having earlier fruit maturity, similar or higher yield, and similar or lower bunch rot susceptibility." This is consistent with the theory that Primitivo was selected as an early-ripening clone of a Croatian grape.
By 1998, Meredith's team realized that Plavac Mali was not Zinfandel but rather that one was the parent of the other. In 2000 they discovered that Primitivo/Zinfandel was one parent of Plavac Mali. The other parent of Plavac Mali was determined by Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić (University of Zagreb) to be Dobričić
, an ancient variety from the Adriatic island of Šolta
.
This discovery narrowed down the search to the central Dalmatia
n coastal strip and its offshore islands. Eventually a matching DNA fingerprint was found among the samples. The match came from a vine sampled in 2001 in the vineyard of Ivica Radunić in Kaštel Novi
. This Crljenak Kaštelanski ("Kaštela Red") appears to represent Primitivo/Zinfandel in its original home, although some genetic divergence may have occurred since their separation. Meredith now refers to the variety as "ZPC" - Zinfandel / Primitivo / Crljenak Kaštelanski.
This Croatian vineyard contained just nine Crljenak Kaštelanski vines mixed with thousands of other vines. In 2002, additional vines known locally as Pribidrag were found in the Dalmatian coastal town of Omiš
. Both clones are being propagated in California under the aegis of Ridge Vineyards
, although virus infections have delayed their release. The first Croatian ZPC wine was made by Edi Maletić in 2005. Meanwhile, plantings of Primitivo have increased in California, where it seems to grow somewhat less vigorously than its sibling. Its wines are reputed to have more blackberry and spice flavors.
recognized Zinfandel as a synonym for Primitivo in January 1999, meaning that Italian Primitivos can be labelled as Zinfandel in the United States and any other country that recognises EU labelling laws. Italian winemakers have taken advantage of these rules and shipped Primitivo wines to the United States labelled as Zinfandels, with the approval of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
(TTB).
As of December 2007, the TTB lists both Zinfandel and Primitivo as approved grape varieties for American wines, but they are not listed as synonyms. U.S. producers, therefore, must label a wine according to whether it is Zinfandel or Primitivo. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) proposed in 2002 that they be recognised as synonyms, but no decision on this proposal (RIN 1513–AA32, formerly RIN 1512-AC65) has been made.
, Colorado
, Illinois
, Indiana
, Iowa
, Massachusetts
, Nevada
, New Mexico
, New York
, North Carolina
, Ohio
, Oregon
, Tennessee
, Texas
and Washington
. U.S. producers make wine in styles that range from late harvest
dessert wine
s, rosés (White Zinfandel) and Beaujolais
-style light reds to big hearty reds and fortified wine
in the style of port
. The quality and character of American Zinfandel wines largely depend on the climate and location in which they are grown, the age of the vineyard in which they are grown, and the technology employed by the winemaker.
Historically, California Zinfandel vines were planted as a field blend interspersed with Durif
(Petite Sirah), Carignan, Grenache
, Mourvèdre
, Mission
and Muscat. While most vineyards are now fully segregated, California winemakers continue to use other grapes (particularly Petite Sirah) in their Zinfandel wines. Zinfandel is grown on approximately 11% of California's vineyard land area. Around 400,000 short ton
s (350,000 tonnes) are crushed each year, depending on the harvest, placing Zinfandel third behind Chardonnay
and Cabernet Sauvignon and just ahead of Merlot
.
, Stanislaus County
, and Madera County
produce Zinfandel primarily for blends or jug wine
.
Certain California regions are regarded as "exceptional" for Zinfandel, each with identifiable flavor characteristics.
, Gioia del Colle Primitivo (Riserva) and Falerno del Massico Primitivo (Riserva o Vecchio). The Manduria
DOC covers still red wine as well as sweet (Dolce Naturale) and fortified (Liquoroso Dolce Naturale, Liquoroso Secco) wine. Falerno requires a minimum of 85% Primitivo; the others are 100% Primitivo. Gioia del Colle Rosso and Rosato contain 50-60% Primitivo, and Cilento Rosso/Rosato contains around 15%.
Historically, the grape was fermented
and shipped north to Tuscany
and Piedmont
where it was used as a blending grape to enhance the body of thin red wines produced in those areas. When the link between Primitivo and Zinfandel began to emerge, plantings in the region and production of non-blended varietal increased. Today most Italian Primitivo is made as a rustic, highly alcoholic red wine with up to 16% alcohol by volume
(ABV). Some Italian winemakers age the wines in new American oak to imitate American-style Zinfandel.
. He made his first ZPC wines in Croatia in 2005. There is high demand for red grapes in the country, and the government has been supportive of ongoing research. Figures from the department of viticulture and enology at the University of Zagreb claim that from only 22 vines of Crljenak Kaštelanski in Croatia in 2001, there were about 2,000 vines in 2008.
Old vine Zinfandel plantings dating from the 1930s have been found in Baja California
, Mexico. There are also small Zinfandel plantings in Western Australia
, Mudgee in New South Wales and the McLaren Vale
area of South Australia
. South Africa has a small production of Zinfandel, including one estate rated among the country's Zinfandel producers and winner of an international prize.
Zinfandel vines are quite vigorous and grow best in climates that are warm but not too hot, because grapes may shrivel in hot weather. Zinfandel's thin-skinned grapes grow in large, tight bunches that are sometimes prone to bunch rot. The fruit ripen fairly early and produce juice with high sugar levels. If weather conditions permit, the grapes may be late-harvested
to make dessert wine
. Zinfandel is often praised for its ability to reflect both its terroir
and its winemaker's style and skill.
The grapes are known for their uneven pattern of ripening: a single bunch may contain both raisin-like, over-ripe grapes and green, unripened grapes. Some winemakers choose to vinify the bunches with these varying levels of ripeness, while others hand-harvest
the bunches, even by single berries, through multiple passes through the vineyards over several weeks. This extensively laborious practice is one component in the high cost of some Zinfandels.
Red Zinfandel wines have been criticized for being too "hot" (too alcoholic), although modern winemaking techniques have helped make them more approachable. On the other hand, Zinfandel producers such as Joel Peterson of Ravenswood believe that alcohol-removing technologies, such as reverse osmosis
and spinning cone
s, remove a sense of terroir
from the wine. If a wine has the tannins and other components to balance 15% alcohol, Peterson argues, it should be accepted on its own terms.
When grapes are harvested, the length of fermentation, the length of the maceration
period with skin contact and the level of oak aging affect the wine's taste. The degrees Brix at which the grapes are harvested dramatically affect the wine's flavor as well. White Zinfandel is normally harvested early at 20°Bx when the grapes have yet to develop much varietal character
, though some examples can develop hints of tobacco
and apple
skin. At 23°Bx (the degree that most red wine is considered "ripe"), strawberry
flavors develop. Cherry
flavors appear at 24°Bx followed by blackberry notes at 25°Bx.
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
of red grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
planted in over 10 percent of California vineyards
California wine
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state...
. DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in Puglia (the "heel" of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), where it was introduced in the 18th century. The grape found its way to the United States in the mid-19th century, and became known by variations of the name "Zinfandel", a name of uncertain origin.
The grapes typically produce a robust red wine, although a semi-sweet rosé
Rosé
A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...
(blush-style) wine called White Zinfandel
White Zinfandel
White Zinfandel, often abbreviated as White Zin, is an off-dry to sweet, pink-colored blush wine. White Zinfandel is made from the Zinfandel wine grape, which would otherwise produce a bold and spicy red wine. As such, it is not a grape variety but a method of processing Zinfandel grapes...
has six times the sales of the red wine in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The grape's high sugar content can be ferment
Fermentation (wine)
The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...
ed into levels of alcohol exceeding 15 percent.
The taste of the red wine depends on the ripeness of the grapes from which it is made. Red berry fruits like raspberry
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
predominate in wines from cooler areas, whereas blackberry
Blackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of the Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial roots. Blackberries and...
, anise
Anise
Anise , Pimpinella anisum, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor resembles that of liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :...
and pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
notes are more common in wines made in warmer areas and in wines made from the earlier-ripening Primitivo clone.
Europe (6000 BCE – 1870)
Archaeological evidence indicates that domestication of Vitis vinifera occurred in the CaucasusCaucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
region around 6000 BCE, and winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
was discovered shortly after. Cultivation of the vine subsequently spread to the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. Croatia once had several indigenous varieties related to Zinfandel, which formed the basis of its wine industry in the 19th century. This diversity suggests that the grapes existed in Croatia longer than anywhere else. However, these varieties were almost entirely wiped out by the phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
epidemic of the late 19th century, reducing Zinfandel to just nine vines of locally-known "Crljenak Kaštelanski" discovered in 2001 on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia.
The first documented use of the term Primitivo appears in Italian governmental publications of the 1870s. The name derives from the terms primativus or primaticcio, which refer to the grape's tendency to ripen earlier than other varieties. This name's appearance 40 years after the first documented use of the term Zinfandel was previously thought to suggest that Primitivo was introduced to Italy from across the Atlantic; however, this hypothesis became unlikely since the discovery of the vine's Croatian origin.
Primitivo is now thought to have been introduced as a distinct clone into the Puglia region of Italy in the 18th century. Don Francesco Filippo Indellicati, the priest of the church at Gioia del Colle
Gioia del Colle
Gioia del Colle is a town and comune in the province of Bari, Apulia, Italy. The town is located on the Murge plateau at 360 metres above sea level.- History :...
near Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, selected an early ("primo") ripening plant of the Zagarese variety and planted it in Liponti. This clone ripened at the end of August and became widespread throughout northern Puglia. Cuttings came to the other great Primitivo DOC (denominazione di origine controllata
Denominazione di Origine Controllata
Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC...
or "denomination of controlled origin") as part of the dowry of the Countess Sabini of Altamura
Altamura
Altamura is a town and comune of Apulia, southern Italy. It is located on the Murge plateau in the province of Bari, 45 km South-West of Bari, close to the border with Basilicata. As of 2011 its population was of 69,728.-Overview:...
when she married Don Tommaso Schiavoni-Tafuri of Manduria
Manduria
Manduria is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 30,000 inhabitants, it is located 35 km east of Taranto, and 14 km north of the coast.-History:...
in the late 19th century.
United States east coast (1829–1850)
The arrival of Zinfandel in the United States may have been via the Imperial Nursery in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, which likely obtained the vines during the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
's rule over Croatia, which was expanded when Austria acquired the Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n territories of the former Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
in 1797. George Gibbs, a horticulturist on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, received shipments of grapes from Schönbrunn
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna...
and elsewhere in Europe between 1820 and 1829. Sullivan suggests that the "Black Zinfardel of Hungary" mentioned by William Robert Prince in A Treatise on the Vine (1830) may have referred to one of Gibbs' 1829 acquisitions. Webster suggests that the name is a corruption of tzinifándli (czirifandli), a Hungarian word derived from the German Zierfandler
Zierfandler
Zierfandler is a grape variety used to make white wine in the Thermenregion of Austria. It is also known as Spätrot because it turns red just before harvest time. It is traditionally blended with Rotgipfler but is increasingly being sold as a single varietal wine...
, a white grape (Gruener Sylvaner) from Austria's
Austrian wine
Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines with some luscious dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch , Pinot Noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt...
Thermenregion.
Gibbs visited Boston in 1830, and Samuel Perkins of that city began selling "Zenfendal" soon afterward. In 1830, Gibbs also supplied Prince with "Black St. Peters", a similar variety may have come from England, where many vines have "St. Peters" in their names. Little is known about this vine, except that the Black St. Peters that arrived in California in the 1850s was the same as what became known as Zinfandel by the 1870s.
By 1835 Charles M. Hovey, Boston’s leading nurseryman, was recommending "Zinfindal" as a table grape, and it was soon widely grown in heated greenhouses for the production of table grapes as early as June. The first reference to making wine from "Zinfindal" appears in John Fisk Allen's Practical Treatise in the Culture and Treatment of the Grape Vine (1847). Meanwhile the fad of hothouse cultivation faded in the 1850s as attention turned to the Concord and other grape varieties that could be grown outdoors in Boston.
California (1850–1933)
Prince and other nurserymen such as Frederick W. Macondray joined the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
in the 1850s, and took Zinfandel with them. Prince's notebook records that the grape dried "perfectly to Raisin" and that he believed his Zinfandel was the same as the "Black Sonora" he found in California. When the vine known as "Black St. Peters" arrived in California, it was initially regarded as a distinct variety, but by the 1870s it was recognized as the same grape as Zinfandel.
Joseph W. Osborne may have made the first wine from Zinfandel in California. He planted Zinfandel from Macondray at his Oak Knoll vineyard just north of Napa, and his wine was much praised in 1857. Planting of Zinfandel boomed soon after, and by the end of the 19th century it was the most widespread variety in California.
These Zinfandel old vine
Old vine
Old vine is a term commonly used on wine labels to indicate that a wine is the product of grape vines that are notably old. The practice of displaying it stems from the general belief that older vines, when properly handled, will give a better wine...
s are now treasured for the production of premium red wine, but many were ripped up in the 1920s, during the Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
years (1920–1933), but not for the obvious reason. Even during the Prohibition, home winemaking remained effectively legal, and some vineyards embraced the sale of grapes for making wine at home. While Zinfandel grapes proved popular among home winemakers living near the vineyards, it was vulnerable to rot on the long journey to East Coast markets. The thick-skinned Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Alicante is a teinturier, a grape with red flesh. It is one of the few teinturier grapes that belong to the Vitis vinifera species...
was less susceptible to rot, so this and similar varieties were widely planted for the home winemaking market. Three thousand cars (about 38000 t) of Zinfandel grapes were shipped in 1931, compared to 6000 cars of Alicante Bouschet.
Rediscovery after Prohibition (1933 – present)
By 1930, the wine industry had weakened due to the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and Prohibition. Many vineyards that survived by supplying the home market were located in California's Central Valley, a non-optimal environment for growing quality Zinfandel. Thus, the end of Prohibition left a shortage of quality wine grapes, and Zinfandel sank into obscurity as most was blended into undistinguished fortified wines. However, some producers remained interested in making single varietal
Varietal
"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...
red wines.
By the middle of the 20th century the origins of California Zinfandel had been forgotten. In 1972, one British wine writer wrote, "there is a fascinating Californian grape, the zinfandel, said to have come from Hungary, but apparently a cépage now unknown there." In 1974 and 1981, American wine writers described it as "a California original, grown nowhere else" and "California's own red grape".
In 1972, Bob Trinchero of the Sutter Home Winery
Sutter Home Winery
Sutter Home Winery is one of the largest, independent family-run wineries in the United States, and the estate known for the creation of White Zinfandel. It is located in St. Helena, California...
decided to try draining some juice from the vats in order to impart more tannins and color to his Deaver Vineyard Zinfandel. He vinified this juice as a dry wine, and tried to sell it under the name of Oeil de Perdrix
Oeil de Perdrix
Oeil de Perdrix is a rosé wine produced in Switzerland. The history of the wine style dates back to the Middle Ages in the Champagne region of France and from there spread to the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland where it would become a popular dry rosé made from Pinot noir...
, a French wine made by this saignée method. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insisted on an English translation, so he added "White Zinfandel" to the name, and sold 220 cases. At the time, demand for white wine exceeeded the availability of white wine grapes, encouraging other California producers to make "white" wine from red grapes, with minimal skin contact. However, in 1975, Trinchero's wine experienced a stuck fermentation
Stuck fermentation
A stuck fermentation occurs in brewing beer or winemaking when the yeast become dormant before the fermentation has completed. Unlike an "arrested fermentation" where the winemaker intentionally stops fermentation , a stuck fermentation is an unintentional and unwanted occurrence that can lead to...
, a problem in which the yeast dies off before all the sugar is converted to alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
. He put the wine aside for two weeks, then tasted it and decided to sell this pinker, sugary wine. Just as Mateus Rosé had become a huge success in Europe after World War II, this medium sweet White Zinfandel became immensely popular. White Zinfandel still accounts for 9.9% of U.S. wine sales by volume (6.3% by value), six times the sales of red Zinfandel. Most white Zinfandel is made from grapes grown for that purpose in California's Central Valley.
Wine critics considered white Zinfandel to be insipid and uninteresting in the 1970s and 1980s, although modern white Zinfandels have more fruit and less cloying sweetness. Nevertheless, the success of this blush wine
Rosé
A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...
saved many old vines in premium areas, which came into their own at the end of the 20th century as red Zinfandel wines came back into fashion. Although the two wines taste dramatically different, both are made from the same (red) grapes, processed in a different way.
Relationship to Primitivo and Crljenak Kaštelanski
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
(UCD) professor Austin Goheen visited Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1967, he noticed how wine made from Primitivo reminded him of Zinfandel. Others also made the connection about that time. Primitivo was brought to California in 1968, and ampelographers declared it identical to Zinfandel in 1972. The first wine made from these California vines in 1975 also seemed identical to Zinfandel. In 1975, PhD student Wade Wolfe showed that the two varieties had identical isozyme fingerprints.
Dr. Lamberti of Bari had suggested to Goheen in 1976 that Primitivo might be the Croatian variety Plavac Mali
Plavac Mali
Plavac Mali, a cross between ancestral Zinfandel and Dobričić grapes, is the primary red wine grape grown along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia...
. By 1982 Goheen had confirmed that they were similar but not identical, probably by isozyme analysis. Some Croatians, however, became convinced that Plavac Mali was the same as Zinfandel, among them Croatian-born winemaker Mike Grgich
Mike Grgich
Mike Grgich is a Croatian American winemaker in California. He was born into a winemaking family in the town of Desne on Croatia's coastal region of Dalmatia...
. In 1991 Grgich and other producers came together as the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) with the objectives of promoting the varietal and wine, and supporting scientific research on Zinfandel. With this support, UCD professor Carole Meredith
Carole Meredith
Carole P. Meredith is an American grape geneticist who was a professor at the Department of Viticulture and Enology of University of California, Davis before she retired in 2003...
went to Croatia and collected over 150 samples of Plavac Mali throughout Dalmatia, in collaboration with the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
.
In 1993, Meredith used a DNA fingerprinting technique to confirm that Primitivo and Zinfandel are clones of the same variety. Comparative field trials have found that "Primitivo selections were generally superior to those of Zinfandel, having earlier fruit maturity, similar or higher yield, and similar or lower bunch rot susceptibility." This is consistent with the theory that Primitivo was selected as an early-ripening clone of a Croatian grape.
By 1998, Meredith's team realized that Plavac Mali was not Zinfandel but rather that one was the parent of the other. In 2000 they discovered that Primitivo/Zinfandel was one parent of Plavac Mali. The other parent of Plavac Mali was determined by Ivan Pejić and Edi Maletić (University of Zagreb) to be Dobričić
Dobricic
Dobričić is an ancient red wine grape variety from the island of Šolta off the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. It is one parent of the Plavac Mali red wine grape variety; the other one is Zinfandel, a grape variety also known as Crljenak Kaštelanski in Croatia, from where it originates....
, an ancient variety from the Adriatic island of Šolta
Šolta
Šolta is an island in Croatia. It is situated in the Adriatic Sea in the central Dalmatian archipelago, west of the island of Brač, south of Split and east of the Drvenik islands . Its area is 58.98 km2 and it has a population of 1,675 .The highest peak of Šolta is the summit Vela Straža...
.
This discovery narrowed down the search to the central Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n coastal strip and its offshore islands. Eventually a matching DNA fingerprint was found among the samples. The match came from a vine sampled in 2001 in the vineyard of Ivica Radunić in Kaštel Novi
Kaštela
Kaštela is a series of seven towns in central Dalmatia, located northwest of Split, west of Solin and east of Trogir, in Croatia. They are part of the Split-Dalmatia county and are treated as a single city with a population of 38,474 , although they are individually between 3,000 and 7,000...
. This Crljenak Kaštelanski ("Kaštela Red") appears to represent Primitivo/Zinfandel in its original home, although some genetic divergence may have occurred since their separation. Meredith now refers to the variety as "ZPC" - Zinfandel / Primitivo / Crljenak Kaštelanski.
This Croatian vineyard contained just nine Crljenak Kaštelanski vines mixed with thousands of other vines. In 2002, additional vines known locally as Pribidrag were found in the Dalmatian coastal town of Omiš
Omiš
Omiš is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is where the emerald-green Cetina River meets the Adriatic Sea...
. Both clones are being propagated in California under the aegis of Ridge Vineyards
Ridge Vineyards
Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California...
, although virus infections have delayed their release. The first Croatian ZPC wine was made by Edi Maletić in 2005. Meanwhile, plantings of Primitivo have increased in California, where it seems to grow somewhat less vigorously than its sibling. Its wines are reputed to have more blackberry and spice flavors.
Legal issues
Local wine-labeling regulations are slowly catching up with the DNA evidence, a process that has been slowed by trade disputes. The European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
recognized Zinfandel as a synonym for Primitivo in January 1999, meaning that Italian Primitivos can be labelled as Zinfandel in the United States and any other country that recognises EU labelling laws. Italian winemakers have taken advantage of these rules and shipped Primitivo wines to the United States labelled as Zinfandels, with the approval of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury....
(TTB).
As of December 2007, the TTB lists both Zinfandel and Primitivo as approved grape varieties for American wines, but they are not listed as synonyms. U.S. producers, therefore, must label a wine according to whether it is Zinfandel or Primitivo. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
(ATF) proposed in 2002 that they be recognised as synonyms, but no decision on this proposal (RIN 1513–AA32, formerly RIN 1512-AC65) has been made.
United States
Zinfandel is most widely known in the California wine industry, but the grape is also grown in ArizonaArizona wine
Arizona wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Arizona.Viticulture in Arizona has a history that begins in the 16th century when missionary Spanish Jesuit priests began to plant grapevines and make wine for use in Christian religious ceremonies...
, Colorado
Colorado wine
Colorado wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Colorado. Most the Colorado's vineyards are located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, though an increasing number of wineries are located along the Front Range....
, Illinois
Illinois wine
Illinois wine refers to any wine that is made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 2006, Shawnee Hills, in southern Illinois, was named the state's first American Viticultural Area. As of 2008, there were 79 wineries in Illinois, utilizing approximately of vines.-History:Grapes...
, Indiana
Indiana wine
Indiana wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Indiana. Wine has been produced in the area since the early days of European colonization in the 18th century. In the mid-19th century, Indiana was the tenth-largest winegrape producing state in the country.There is one...
, Iowa
Iowa wine
Iowa wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Iowa. Iowa presents many challenges to viticulture including very warm summer days that can promote fungal vine diseases, and extremely cold winter nights that can kill many varieties of grapevines...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts wine
Massachusetts wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Most of the wine grape vineyards and wineries in Massachusetts are located in the southern half of the state, within the boundaries of the Southeastern New England AVA...
, Nevada
Nevada wine
Nevada wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Nevada. Nevada has three wineries: in Fallon, in Minden and in Pahrump. Despite the difficulties of growing grapes in Nevada , all three wineries have produced wines made from grapes grown in Nevada...
, New Mexico
New Mexico wine
New Mexico has the longest history of wine production in the United States. In 1629, Franciscan friar García de Zúñiga and a Capuchín monk named Antonio de Arteaga planted the first wine grapes in the Río Grande valley of southern New Mexico. Viticulture took hold in the valley, and by the year...
, New York
New York wine
New York wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of New York. New York ranks third in grape production by volume after California and Washington. Eighty-three percent of New York's grape area is Vitis labrusca varieties...
, North Carolina
North Carolina wine
North Carolina wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Wine has been produced in the area since the early days of European colonization in the 17th century. wine growers in North Carolina were the first to cultivate a native American grape variety, the...
, Ohio
Ohio wine
Ohio wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Ohio. Historically, this has been wine grown from native American species of grapes, not European wine grapes, although hybrid and vinifera grapes are now common in Ohio...
, Oregon
Oregon wine
The state of Oregon in the United States has established an international reputation for its production of wine. Oregon has several different growing regions within the state's borders which are well-suited to the cultivation of grapes; additional regions straddle the border between Oregon and the...
, Tennessee
Tennessee wine
Tennessee wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The state was home to a wine industry in the 19th century that was crushed when Prohibition was introduced in the early 20th century. The modern Tennessee wine industry focuses on French hybrid grapes, which are...
, Texas
Texas wine
Texas has a long history of wine production. The sunny and dry climate of the major wine making regions in the state have drawn comparison to Portuguese wines. Some of the earliest recorded Texas wines were produced by Spanish missionaries in the 1650s near El Paso...
and Washington
Washington Wine
Washington wine is wine produced from grape varieties grown in the U.S. state of Washington. Washington ranks second in the United States in the production of wine, behind only California. By 2006, the state had over of vineyards, a harvest of of grapes, and exports going to over 40 countries...
. U.S. producers make wine in styles that range from late harvest
Late harvest wine
Late harvest is a term applied to wines made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. Late harvest is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling. Late harvest grapes are often more similar to raisins, but have been naturally dehydrated while on the vine...
dessert wine
Dessert wine
Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...
s, rosés (White Zinfandel) and Beaujolais
Beaujolais
Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wine generally made of the Gamay grape which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made mostly with Chardonnay grapes...
-style light reds to big hearty reds and fortified wine
Fortified wine
Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled beverage has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it...
in the style of port
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
. The quality and character of American Zinfandel wines largely depend on the climate and location in which they are grown, the age of the vineyard in which they are grown, and the technology employed by the winemaker.
Historically, California Zinfandel vines were planted as a field blend interspersed with Durif
Durif
Durif is a variety of red wine grape primarily grown in California, Australia, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico's Baja Peninsula, and Ontario's Niagara Peninsula have also...
(Petite Sirah), Carignan, Grenache
Grenache
Grenache is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain, the south of France, and California's San Joaquin Valley. It is generally spicy, berry-flavored and soft on the palate with a relatively...
, Mourvèdre
Mourvèdre
Mourvèdre , Mataró or Monastrell is wine grape variety used to make both strong, dark red wines and rosés. It is an international variety grown in many regions around the world....
, Mission
Mission (grape)
Mission grapes are a variety of Vitis vinifera introduced from Spain to the western coasts of North and South America in the 16th century by Catholic New World missionaries for use in making sacramental, table, and fortified wines.-History:...
and Muscat. While most vineyards are now fully segregated, California winemakers continue to use other grapes (particularly Petite Sirah) in their Zinfandel wines. Zinfandel is grown on approximately 11% of California's vineyard land area. Around 400,000 short ton
Short ton
The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S...
s (350,000 tonnes) are crushed each year, depending on the harvest, placing Zinfandel third behind Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and Cabernet Sauvignon and just ahead of Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
.
California regions
In California, 20% of the Zinfandel-growing counties hold 80% of the Zinfandel growing area; however, major producing areas such as San Joaquin CountySan Joaquin County, California
San Joaquin County is a county located in Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, just east of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 685,306. The county seat is Stockton.-History:...
, Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County, California
Stanislaus County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing has increased in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people who work in the southern reaches of the Bay Area have opted for the longer commute and moved to Stanislaus County for the...
, and Madera County
Madera County, California
Madera County is a county of the U.S. state of California, located in the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada north of Fresno County. It comprises the Madera-Chowchilla, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census the population was 150,865...
produce Zinfandel primarily for blends or jug wine
Jug wine
Jug wine is a term in the United States for inexpensive table wine typically bottled in a glass jug.Historically, jug wines were labeled semi-generically, often sold to third parties to be relabeled, or sold directly from the winery's tasting room to customers who would often bring their own bottles...
.
Certain California regions are regarded as "exceptional" for Zinfandel, each with identifiable flavor characteristics.
- AmadorAmador County, CaliforniaAmador County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 38,091. The county seat is Jackson.Amador County bills itself as "The Heart of the Mother Lode" and lies within the Gold Country...
has a reputation for big, full-bodied Zinfandel. These extra-ripe wines have been called jammy, briary, and brambly, having aromas of sweet berries. - Although the Santa Cruz Mountains AVASanta Cruz Mountains AVAThe Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is an American Viticultural Area centered around the Santa Cruz Mountains. It includes three counties in California: Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo. Recognized as an AVA in 1981, the Santa Cruz Mountains Appellation was among the first to be defined by its...
in Santa Clara ValleySanta Clara Valley AVAThe Santa Clara Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Santa Clara County, California. The area served an important role in the early history of California wine and was home to the pioneer winemakers Paul Masson and Charles Lefranc...
produces Zinfandel from just 9 acres (3.6 ha), the Zinfandel from that region is known for its complexity and depth. - Sonoma countySonoma County wineSonoma County wine is wine made in Sonoma County, California, USA. County names in the United States automatically qualify as legal appellations of origin for wine produced from grapes grown in that county and do not require registration with the United States Department of the Treasury, Alcohol...
has a Zinfandel-producing land area second only to that of San Joaquin County. The county contains the warm Dry Creek Valley AVADry Creek Valley AVAThe Dry Creek Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Sonoma County, California, located northwest of the town of Healdsburg. The valley is formed by Dry Creek, a tributary of the Russian River, and is approximately long and wide...
, known for its juicy Zinfandel with bright fruit, balanced acidity and notes of blackberry, anise and pepper. Dry Creek Valley produces Zinfandel in a variety of styles ranging from the high-alcohol Amador style to balanced, spicy wines. - San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo County, CaliforniaSan Luis Obispo County is a county located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census its population was 269,637, up from 246,681 at the 2000 census...
, particularly the Paso Robles AVAPaso Robles AVAPaso Robles Wine Country is an American Viticultural Area located in the San Luis Obispo County, California. It has approximately 26,000 vineyard acres planted with wine grapes, and is well known for its hertiage varietal Zinfandel, Rhône-style wines, and "Crazy Blends," blends and styles that are...
with its hot days and cool maritime evenings, produces Zinfandel known for being soft and round. - While the Napa Valley AVANapa Valley AVANapa Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Napa County, California, United States. Napa Valley is considered one of the top wine regions in the United States...
is known primarily for its Cabernet SauvignonCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, MerlotMerlotMerlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
, and Syrah, Napa also produces Zinfandel wines described as plumPlumA plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
my and intense, tasting of red berry fruits with cedar and vanilla. Zinfandel in Napa tends to be made in a claretClaretClaret is a name primarily used in British English for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France.-Usage:Claret derives from the French clairet, a now uncommon dark rosé and the most common wine exported from Bordeaux until the 18th century...
style like red BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. - The Russian River ValleyRussian River Valley AVAThe Russian River Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Sonoma County, California. Centered around the Russian River, the Russian River Valley AVA accounts for about one-sixth of the total planted vineyard acreage in Sonoma County. The appellation was granted AVA status in 1983 and...
generally produces well during warm vintageVintageVintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
s. Otherwise, the grapes do not fully ripen, leaving the wines with excessive acidity. The area has mostly "old vine" Zinfandel, characterized as spicy and somewhat lower in alcohol than Zinfandel from other regions. - Mendocino CountyMendocino AVAThe Mendocino AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Mendocino County, California. Within this larger appellation are several smaller AVAs, and applications are pending with the United States Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to create new AVAs out of the...
Zinfandel wines have been considered high quality, but they are less known because they are not heavily marketed. - LodiLodi AVALodi AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in the Central Valley of California, at the northern edge of the San Joaquin Valley east of San Francisco Bay. The AVA gained approval as a designated wine growing area in 1986 and includes of which are currently planted with wine grapes...
has some of the oldest Zinfandel vines in California. While often used for White Zinfandel production, in the red style, Lodi Zinfandels have a reputation for being juicy and approachable.
Italy
Most Primitivo is grown in Puglia (Apulia), the "heel" of Italy, and it is estimated to be the country's 12th most widely planted grape variety. The main three DOC areas are Primitivo di ManduriaManduria
Manduria is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 30,000 inhabitants, it is located 35 km east of Taranto, and 14 km north of the coast.-History:...
, Gioia del Colle Primitivo (Riserva) and Falerno del Massico Primitivo (Riserva o Vecchio). The Manduria
Manduria
Manduria is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 30,000 inhabitants, it is located 35 km east of Taranto, and 14 km north of the coast.-History:...
DOC covers still red wine as well as sweet (Dolce Naturale) and fortified (Liquoroso Dolce Naturale, Liquoroso Secco) wine. Falerno requires a minimum of 85% Primitivo; the others are 100% Primitivo. Gioia del Colle Rosso and Rosato contain 50-60% Primitivo, and Cilento Rosso/Rosato contains around 15%.
Historically, the grape was fermented
Fermentation (wine)
The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...
and shipped north to Tuscany
Toscana (wine)
Toscana wine is Italian wine from the Tuscany region. Located in central Italy along the Tyrrhenian coast, Tuscany is home to some of the world's most notable wine regions. Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are primarily made with Sangiovese grape whereas the...
and Piedmont
Piemonte (wine)
Piemonte wine is the range of Italian wines made in the province of Piedmont in the northwestern corner of Italy.The best-known wines from the region include Barolo and Barbaresco. They are made from the Nebbiolo grape...
where it was used as a blending grape to enhance the body of thin red wines produced in those areas. When the link between Primitivo and Zinfandel began to emerge, plantings in the region and production of non-blended varietal increased. Today most Italian Primitivo is made as a rustic, highly alcoholic red wine with up to 16% alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
(ABV). Some Italian winemakers age the wines in new American oak to imitate American-style Zinfandel.
Other locations
The Croatian form Crljenak Kaštelanski was not bottled in Croatia as a varietal in its own right before the link to Zinfandel was revealed. UCD has since sent clones of both Zinfandel and Primitivo to Professor Maletić in Croatia, which he planted on the island of HvarHvar
- Climate :The climate of Hvar is characterized by mild winters and warm summers. The yearly average air temperature is , 686 mm of precipitation fall on the town of Hvar on average every year and the town has a total of 2800 sunshine hours per year. For comparison Hvar has an average of 7.7...
. He made his first ZPC wines in Croatia in 2005. There is high demand for red grapes in the country, and the government has been supportive of ongoing research. Figures from the department of viticulture and enology at the University of Zagreb claim that from only 22 vines of Crljenak Kaštelanski in Croatia in 2001, there were about 2,000 vines in 2008.
Old vine Zinfandel plantings dating from the 1930s have been found in Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Mexico. There are also small Zinfandel plantings in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, Mudgee in New South Wales and the McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale is a wine region approximately 35 km south of Adelaide in South Australia. It has a population of about 2,000 and is internationally renowned for the wines it produces. The region was named after either David McLaren, the Colonial Manager of the South Australia Company or John...
area of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. South Africa has a small production of Zinfandel, including one estate rated among the country's Zinfandel producers and winner of an international prize.
Viticulture and winemaking
Late harvest wine
Late harvest is a term applied to wines made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. Late harvest is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling. Late harvest grapes are often more similar to raisins, but have been naturally dehydrated while on the vine...
to make dessert wine
Dessert wine
Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...
. Zinfandel is often praised for its ability to reflect both its terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
and its winemaker's style and skill.
The grapes are known for their uneven pattern of ripening: a single bunch may contain both raisin-like, over-ripe grapes and green, unripened grapes. Some winemakers choose to vinify the bunches with these varying levels of ripeness, while others hand-harvest
Harvest (wine)
The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...
the bunches, even by single berries, through multiple passes through the vineyards over several weeks. This extensively laborious practice is one component in the high cost of some Zinfandels.
Red Zinfandel wines have been criticized for being too "hot" (too alcoholic), although modern winemaking techniques have helped make them more approachable. On the other hand, Zinfandel producers such as Joel Peterson of Ravenswood believe that alcohol-removing technologies, such as reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis is a membrane technical filtration method that removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and...
and spinning cone
Spinning cone
Spinning cone columns are used in a form of steam distillation to gently extract volatile chemicals from liquid foodstuffs while minimising the effect on the taste of the product...
s, remove a sense of terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
from the wine. If a wine has the tannins and other components to balance 15% alcohol, Peterson argues, it should be accepted on its own terms.
When grapes are harvested, the length of fermentation, the length of the maceration
Maceration (wine)
Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents and flavor compounds— are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. Maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since 99% of all grape juice is...
period with skin contact and the level of oak aging affect the wine's taste. The degrees Brix at which the grapes are harvested dramatically affect the wine's flavor as well. White Zinfandel is normally harvested early at 20°Bx when the grapes have yet to develop much varietal character
Typicity
Typicity is a term in wine tasting used to describe the degree to which a wine reflects its varietal origins, and thus demonstrate the signature characteristics of the grape from which it was produced, i.e., how much a Merlot wine “tastes like a Merlot”...
, though some examples can develop hints of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
skin. At 23°Bx (the degree that most red wine is considered "ripe"), strawberry
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
flavors develop. Cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
flavors appear at 24°Bx followed by blackberry notes at 25°Bx.
Synonyms
Crljenak Kaštelanski, Gioia Del Colle, Locale, Morellone, Plavac Veliki, Primaticcio, Primativo, Primitivo, Primitivo Di Gioia, Primitivo Nero, Uva Della Pergola, Uva Di Corato, Zin (informal), ZPC, Black St. Peters, Zenfendal, Zinfardel, Zinfindal, Taranto, Zeinfandall, Zinfardell, Zinfindel, Zinfandal.See also
- Paul Draper - chief winemaker at Ridge VineyardsRidge VineyardsRidge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California...
, pioneer of California Zinfandel - Mike GrgichMike GrgichMike Grgich is a Croatian American winemaker in California. He was born into a winemaking family in the town of Desne on Croatia's coastal region of Dalmatia...
- winemaker advocate of Zinfandel who funded genetic research - Plavac MaliPlavac MaliPlavac Mali, a cross between ancestral Zinfandel and Dobričić grapes, is the primary red wine grape grown along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia...
- a grape variety descended from parents Zinfandel and DobričićDobricicDobričić is an ancient red wine grape variety from the island of Šolta off the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. It is one parent of the Plavac Mali red wine grape variety; the other one is Zinfandel, a grape variety also known as Crljenak Kaštelanski in Croatia, from where it originates.... - SusumanielloSusumanielloSusumaniello is a variety of red wine grape from the 'heel' of Italy. It is an ancient grape variety which is grown in the province of Brindisi in the southern Italian region of Puglia.-Distribution and wines:...
- Pugliese grape that also probably came from Dalmatia