Zinfandel is famous or infamous as the pink summer wine enjoyed by people who are not aficionados. Thinking about it brings me back to my early days in wine, when an elderly, scraggly man walked into the shop where I worked and the following exchange occurred.
"Do you all have that White Zinfandel?"
"Yep. Right here. The big bottle is $10.99."
"Oh, good. She can't get in the bed without it."
I am not really sure what he was babbling about, but I suspect it's horrible. Despite its reputation as pink swill, Zinfandel is a red grape. Most red wines get their color from contact with the grape skins, the maceration process. Shorter contact makes lighter wine. The Provence region of Southern France is known for making excellent dry rosé wines. California Zinfandel is known for making rosé wines that are less dry and substantially less excellent.
Zinfandel has historically been something of a mystery. The grapes tend to be higher in sugar than other red varietals and for a long time, no one really knew where it had originated, only that it was successful in California. Genetic testing eventually proved that Zinfandel is a descendant of Primitivo, an Italian Red varietal known to produce semi sweet red wine.
Red Zinfandel wine has been a thing for as long as there has been Zinfandel but it never gained the popularity of the pink version. What this says about the majority of consumers' tastes is almost depressing enough to make me drink White Zinfandel.
Seriously, those of us in the business find the product cringe worthy to a degree that is difficult to express here.
Red Zin has been a good introductory wine for those who are not ready to jump right into something like a big, dry Bordeaux Blend and who find Pinot Noir too weak. The fact that the highest end Zinfadels don't usually top $100 and that they start at about $10 also helps its accessibility.
Yeast typically starts to die at the point in fermentation when the wine reaches 14% alcohol. This has traditionally posed a problem for producers in hot climates trying to make dry wine. One option was to harvest a little early. The grapes would then have less sugar, thus make a drier wine. Production from under ripe grapes can result in wine with green, unpleasant notes that don't go away and actually can get worse with bottle age.
Another solution has come with yeasts bred to survive in higher alcohol environments. Now, still wine with alcohol contents upwards of 16% are not that uncommon. Traditionalist tend to prefer more elegant wines with alcohol in the 12-13% range. Upon seeing a 17% alcohol monster those drinkers are likely to quote Dr. Malcolm from Jurassic Park, " . . . but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
The new yeasts have allowed the creation of wine that is nearly as high in alcohol as some Ports and Sherries. It is a big, rich style of Zinfandel for those who favor the style of wine that Parker used to describe as "Massive in the mouth," until he noticed everyone giggling at him for saying that.
In my own wine journey, Red Zinfandels have gone from entry point to guilty pleasure. A wine snob is not supposed to like this style but sometimes the occasion calls for something huge, hearty and easy to drink. A good Red Zin does not need decanting, does not need to be paired any particular meal (the wine is the meal), and is just generally not that cerebral of an experience. It is a wine that is meant to be drunk rather tasted, enjoyed rather than analyzed. In an odd way, it is the highest expression of New World wine.
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