Grape of the Month: Zinfandel

I wanted to pick a red wine grape this month - it's fall and red wines just seem to make sense! I haven't tried too many Zinfandels, I mostly drink Cabernet Sauvignon (I'm not very hipster with my wine choices!), and thought it would be fun to explore Zins. With a ton of Halloween parties happening in a few weeks, I think this would be a great wine to bring.

Beautiful Zinfandel Grapes!

Zinfandel was thought to only be planted in the United States, but recent DNA evidence has found that it is a clone of the Primitivo grape from Italy and Crljenak Kastelanski in Croatia. I'm totally digging the use of genetics to help solve the mysteries of grape lineages, I get to indulge my nerdiness with lots of neat trivia.

Because Zinfandel is really just grown in a few areas in the world, I thought it would easy to find just a few examples to highlight what people do with it. Well.....I was sooooo wrong. California alone has about a half dozen areas that are known to be great Zin producers. This is gonna be tough.

Zin is known to be a high alcohol wine - think 15-16% in some! The higher the alcohol, the bigger the Zin. The characteristic Zin comes from warmer climates and lower altitudes, but higher altitudes, cooler climes and lower alcohol content can produce some softer versions of it. A lot of Zin labels currently have the "old vine" or "ancient vine" wording added, while this has no legal definition, older vines are thought to produce better tasting Zins.

So this month, I want to find and try the following:
One from the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma - one of the best places for Zin, apparently.

One from the Lodi, California area - also known for their Zin. However, some in my forum community do not like the Lodi Zins, I would like to see if I can figure out why.

One from Paso Robles area - these are less full bodied than other areas in the California, so I'll see if I can taste the difference.

A Primitivo from Italy - I cannot find any Croatian vintages near me, but the local store does have one from Italy.

The local store also carries regular and old vine varietals from the same winery, so I'll grab those and see if there is a noticeable difference

A Zinfandel with a cool label! Cause those are really fun to bring to parties. Some of the cooler looking labels are blends of Zins from around California, so this might produce a uniquely tasting wine. I'm hoping it will be just as great an experience as the A to Z Pinot Gris.

And finally.........I'll turn into your mother and try it, oh you know, you know! WHITE ZINFANDEL
My mom used to drink this and I think its disgusting, but, dear reader, we must persevere in the name of research.

Wow! This is gonna be a big month. Lots to drink. My life is sooooo difficult. :)