All-American Zinfandel?

What’s more Californian than a glass of spicy, jammy, rich Zinfandel? Californians have been sipping massive Zins with typical American fares like barbecued ribs and peppery steaks for generations. Zin was, in fact, termed “America’s vine and wine.” As a blush wine, White Zinfandel took the market by storm in 1869, when El Pinal Winery in Lodi started the trend. And though White Zin has become less favored recently, it still has enough intrigue to inspire veteran cult wineries like Turley to produce it.

the best-known White Zin: Beringer

Until quite recently the origins of this mysterious grape were unknown, and the style of Zinfandel wine developed in the hot, sunny vineyards of California. It was no wonder this explosive high-alcohol raspberry- and blackberry-fruit laden red was though to originate in the south of Italy, especially given its similarity to the Primitivo grape (later proven to be a clone of Zinfandel). But U.C. Davis Professor Emeritus Carole Meredith discovered in 2002 via DNA profiling that California Zin is, in fact, an ancient grape that used to be widely grown in Dalmatia in what is now Croatia: Crljenak Kaštelanski.

a Crljenak vineyard in Croatia

So how did this confusion come about, and how did the grape get the name “Zinfandel?” Between 1820 and 1829, a horticulturist on Long Island named George Gibbs received crates of grapes from all over Europe. One crate was labeled tzinifándli, a Hungarian translation of Zierfandler, a white grape from Austria’s Thermenregion. The receiving team couldn’t quite make out the name written on the crate and relabeled it “Zinifandel,” from which the name Zinfandel ultimately arose.

a Zinfandel grape bunch beginning to raisin

During the Gold Rush in the 1850’s Zinfandel made it to the west coast and was planted just north of Napa. In the hot California sun the grape ripened to an extremely high sugar concentration, and had a tendency to raisin. In 1857 Joseph Osborne made the first Zin which received high praise and was soon repeated by many local wineries.

After Prohibition there was quite a shortage of the grape. Its origins were forgotten, and wineries began to confuse it with the Black Sonora grape which was growing alongside it. Winemakers started producing insipid, uninteresting wine with it through the mid-1900’s. But luckily more recently a new interest in Zin has emerged and winemakers have been experimenting with this powerhouse of a wine grape, bringing it to new heights.

Zayante vineyards in Felton, California

But back to Croatia momentarily… Crljenak was a very popular grape in Dalmatia until the phylloxera epidemic in the late 19^th century. One of its prodgenies, however, survived quite well and is thriving today: Plavac Mali. Plavac is a cross between Crljenak and Dobričić, and is one of Croatia’s largest wine exports to the US today. It produces wines similar to California Zins: black pepper, spice, and blackberries, all wrapped up in a rich, tannic structure, perfect for grilled meats. Plavac and its Zinfandel counterpart are very interesting to taste together. If you’re curious, we’ve got a comparison this month at The Barrel Room: Zayante Zinfandel versus Dingač Plavac Mali (see our list here).

So how Californian is Zinfandel? Though the grape made its way here from the traditional vineyards of Dalmatia, California Zin now has a style all its own and is without question one of the all-American grapes.

- Sarah