08/16/2025
The âZinâ crowd
By: Abbie Bennington
Zinfandel scores 22 points in Scrabbleâbested by the mighty GewĂŒrztraminer at 29 but remains one of the highest scorers by varietal name alone. In numerology, 22 symbolises balance and harmony, music to any winemakerâs ears. But beyond maths and mysticism, Zinfandel is a capricious red: an uneven ripener, a fermentation flirt, and a grape with a well-documented love/hate relationship with yeast.
So, whatâs âzinâ it for those who grow, make, and persist with this maddening, magnificent variety? And why, despite all odds, does it deserve an ode?
There are, at last count, 146 recorded lyrics that namecheck Zinfandelâmost unfit for print before the watershed. My own reverence began with less fanfare. While working in BBC News, a bottle of unapologetically weighty red crossed my untrained palate, Howell Mountain Vineyards âOld Vineâ Zinfandel. A wine that changed my world, cherry cola, spices and intense red and black fruit lingered on the palate like a stolen kiss. Tasting this wine marked my first step beyond the BBC News at Ten desk and my second into the world of wine. Until then, Zinfandel had existed only as a saccharine, pink blush on the periphery of supermarket shelves, the drink of wine newcomers and a style shunned by the self-proclaimed sophisticated.
To ignore white Zinfandel is to sidestep the pink elephant in the room. Much maligned, misleadingly named, yet undeniably impactful, this wine style schooled a nation of drinkers Stateside and beyond. An unintentional creation, born of a stuck fermentation at Sutter Home in 1970s California, it became the gateway for millions of Americans into the world of wine. Today the category is in serious decline as palates change but as a style, it celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year; a milestone worthy of recognition. Mock it if you will but dismiss it at your peril.
Zinfandel is nothing if not a chameleon in California. In the fog-kissed Russian River Valley, it leans toward bright raspberry and black pepper. In the sun-blasted Sierra Foothills, it swells with ripe blackberries and the all-American term âbaking spiceâ. Lodi, where century-old vines cling to sandy soils, produces plush, concentrated wines with old vine mystique. Few grapes wear terroir so transparently or as wildly as Zinfandel (Pinot Noir being one exception), cue the audible gasps!
Zinfandel has long drawn celebrity fascination. In 2006, Arnold Schwarzenegger made headlines as Governor of California by vetoing bill âSB1253â, which would have declared Zinfandel the official historic grape of the state. In a would-be Eureka! moment (fittingly, the California state motto), Zinfandel might have stood alongside the likes of the California Dogface Butterfly (statute of 1972) or the Garibaldi marine fish (statute of 1995ânot to be confused with the English biscuit or the Italian General). Alas, the Family Winemakers of California objected to singling out one variety among many; citing potential favouritism over state grown varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, the most planted varietals in California. As a result, it was âhasta la vista, babyâ for Zinfandel's legislative glory.
Yet Zinfandel needs no statute to prove its historical mettle. It oozes oldânew world charm. From gold rush plantings in the 1850s to the sandy soils of Lodi that let it dodge phylloxeraâs wrath, Zinfandel is arguably Californiaâs most culturally rooted variety. Some vines, now over a century old, have earned a vital place in Californiaâs viticultural heritage. This, a rarity in a country, that arguably continues to evolve in part its wine identity. These old vines, gnarly and defiant, yield fruit with haunting concentration, proving that depth can indeed come with age.
Historically, Zinfandel rarely grew alone. In Californiaâs early vineyards, it was the anchor of chaotic field blendsâsurrounded by Carignan, Petite Sirah, and other mixed red varietals. Today, winemakers like Ridge, Bedrock, and Turley embrace this heritage, reviving vineyard voices that echo the past through co-fermentation and low-intervention winemaking. Zinfandel, once dismissed as rustic, is now a storyteller of California's vinous history.
Though long believed to be a native of Southern Italy (as Primitivo), DNA sleuthing in the late 1990s traced Zinfandelâs true lineage to the Croatian grape Crljenak KaĆĄtelanski. Once a mystery, Zinfandelâgenetically identical to the ancient Croatian grape Tribidragâis now recognised by some as one of the oldest historically documented grape varieties still in commercial production.
Winemakers call it Zin, Zinni, or the Zinster (maybe the last was more poetic licence on my part)âa grape with personality to match its nicknames. Itâs notorious for uneven ripening, which can result in clusters containing underripe berries alongside near raisins. Fermentations can stall. Acids fluctuate. Alcohol levels soar. Left unchecked, it rockets past 16% alcohol and risks the negative connotation in some wine camps of âjamminessâ. Winemakers often employ every trick in their arsenal to goad the best from each harvest and yet each vintage brings its own surprisesâZin never sits still.
In short, Zinfandel is chaos in a vineyard rowâand yet, it continues to inspire loyalty, creativity, and even obsession amongst its followers.
So, hereâs to Zinfandel: the wildcard, the misfit, the grape that refuses to be boxed in. High-scoring in Scrabble, heavy-lifting in history, and ever teetering between elegance and excess. It may never have earned its state title, but in the hearts of its championsâand in the hands of those who dare to work with itâZinfandel reigns.
