This blog came from a radio script that aired January 26, 2019 on The Spirits of New Mexico. The revamped show now includes an on-air tasting of a wine in the $20-$40 range and a detailed background of the wine region and subregion from which the sampled wine originated.
I’m turning in my passport for a while as we cover domestic wines, and what better place to start than with a uniquely American grape; Zinfandel. There are many areas that excel with this grape, although each wine region puts its own unique stamp on the resulting wines. This grape like so many others arrived courtesy of grape growers and winemakers from the Old World.
Zinfandel Origins
DNA testing is not just devoted to human DNA as many things benefit from DNA analysis including plants. In many cases the only way to know for sure a plants origin is via DNA testing. Such was the case with Zinfandel, which in the late 1990s was able to identify Croatia as the origin of both Zinfandel and Primitivo, an Italian grape. Further refinements followed until the 2012 book Wine Grapes that lists 1,368 varieties included an entry detailing the search for Zinfandel’s origins. After years of research and DNA testing a single 90-year-old grape vine from the garden of an elderly lady in Split, Croatia, provided the evidence to show that Zinfandel was a Croatian grape that has been known as Tribidrag since at least the 15th century. I’m not sure I’d have grabbed a wine that had Tribidrag on the label; just saying.
Cuttings of Zinfandel vines were brought to California during the 1850 Gold Rush and were soon making fine wines. J. W. Osborne may have made the first wine from Zinfandel grapes in California. He planted Zinfandel 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.
Prohibition all but killed Zinfandel, and many vines were ripped out. The grape was subject to rot when transported long distances and was replaced with Alicante Bouschet for the home market. In 1972 Bob Trinchero used the saignee technique to remove some of the first run juice to intensify his Deaver vineyard Zinfandel. The dry, white juice was made into a Rose-style wine but generated little interest. That is until a stuck fermentation in 1975 produced a sweet runoff juice, which caught on and white Zinfandel now sells at six times the rate of red Zinfandel.
Whence cometh the grape
Currently both Zinfandel and the Primitivo clone grow well in many part of California. The earlier-ripening Primitivo is also gaining fans. Castoro Cellars in Paso Robles quadrupled their Primitivo holdings alongside their highly-rated Zinfandel. Currently Zinfandel is the third most planted grape after Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The brix level determines the fruit flavors and alcohol.
In the interest of cutting to the chase the focus here will be Sonoma County Zinfandel. Sonoma county has Zinfandel-plantings second only to the Central Valley. The regions below are all American Viticultural Areas (AVA)
- Dry Creek Valley AVA, is known for its juicy Zinfandel with bright fruit, balanced acidity and notes of blackberry, anise and pepper.
- Alexander Valley AVA is the warmest region for Zin and home to Sin Zin of Alexander Valley Vineyards an iconic Zinfandel
- Sonoma Valley AVA around the town of Sonoma can be earthy and complex; Kenwood and Ravenswood.
- Russian River Valley AVA does have a warm area where Zinfandel, often with intense Boysenberry are favored. There are a number of old vines making spicy, moderate alcohol wines.
Dry Creek Valley
Heading north on highway 101 the Dry Creek Road covers the lower portion of this valley and Lytton Springs further north covers the northern portion with numerous high-quality wineries. When I first explored the area, I loved the Lytton Springs Winery’s unfiltered Zinfandel, long before Ridge Vineyards acquired it, but the quality is still high.
What we are tasting: Puccioni 2013 Old Vine Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley 14.9% ABV $34.99
It almost seems like we haven’t left Tuscany from our previous week’s tasting when we venture into the Dry Creek Valley, as many of the wineries sport Italian names and this one is no exception. Puccioni is a fourth generation winery. Great grandfather Angelo Puccioni came over by boat from Lucca, Italy in 1889 and founded the winery in 1904. He began planting Zinfandel and Petite Sirah
The grapes for this wine were sourced from over 110-year-old vines at the Puccioni Ranch that were planted by him. The vines are mostly head-pruned, which was common practice way back then. Along the way sustainable vineyard practices took over as well. The mule on the label, Prince helped with the plowing until 1968, the last winery to employ mules for clearing the land. Prince always knew when it was 6pm and time to head for home. They grudgingly replaced him with a green John Deere, which probably stayed out all night.
Winemaker notes:
Saturated, very dark red violet color; aromatic, plum, spice, black cherry, baking spice, boysenberry nose; delicious, tight, ripe plum, spice, black cherry, wild berry palate with sweet, fine tannins and good balancing acidity; could use 1 year and will go 20; medium-plus finish.
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