Episode 4 - What's The Deal With Zinfandel?

A discussion about America's grape, Zinfandel!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Okay, I consider myself a California patriot. I love this state and everything that it stands for. Um so let me ask both of you for yourselves, what wine grape is most synonymous with California?

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Well, it's gotta be Zinfandel.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Jakob?

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Yeah, I mean, historically, why Zinfandel? But if I'm thinking production today, just what I'm thinking of, if I didn't hear Cody's answer on Zinfandel, I'd probably say cab or chardonnay, because it's just mainly what's planted.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Yeah, definitely. And that's it's something that sort of gained some momentum starting in the 50s, and of course, the judgment of Paris tasting. But to your point, like Zinfandel was the grape of California to the point that people thought it was from California until Carol Meredith of UC Davis figured that out uh in the early 2000s. But it's one of my absolute favorite grapes for for many reasons. One of my favorite uh wine writers once said that Zinfandel has the gravitas of Cabernet with the site specificity of Pinot Noir. And I thought that was so kind of poignant and powerful. To the point that I used it in my interview when I interviewed to Fertigo worked for his In producer, and it worked.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Because I worked for them and life is good. I love it. They said, Yeah, yeah, dude, can you shine glasses? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

I'm a glass technician. Uh God. No, but I think it's an amazing, it's a fascinating grape. Um, it's been knocking around for about a thousand years now, and it was one of the most, one of, if not maybe they estimate, the most widely planted grape uh along the Dalmatian coast. And in the Middle Ages, it was called uh Tribidrag, which is a derivation of uh basically earlier early ripening, um, or a Greek word meaning earlier, early ripening. And the Venetians controlled the Dalmatian coast from about 1200 through 1600, and they set up these series of fortresses or castles called Kastella to basically protect from the Saracens, which is a medieval term for uh Muslims and uh Arabs in that era at that time, the Ottoman Empire, if you will. And so in Croatia, where this grape is from, it's called Serlenic Kastilensky, meaning the black grape of the castle. And so that's where it originally, of course, was in Croatia. It was brought across the Adriatic to Pulia in the 18th century. And the latter part of the 18th century, there was a priest that uh took cuttings from some quote-unquote promiscuous vineyards in Gio de Cole and propagated them and planted his own vineyard. And he noticed there was this one particular variety that tended to ripen earlier than the others. And so, yeah, he gave it the name primitivo, coming from the Latin primitivus, meaning early ripening, essentially. And this was around uh 1799. And then the Habsburg Empire, when they controlled what would become Croatia, um, with all their wacky chins, uh, which incidentally there was one uh Habsburg Emperor who apparently his chin was so deformed that he had to he would dine alone because of all the slurping sounds that he would make uh as he was eating. So, yeah, inbreeding, not good kids. No, no, not good, not good. Anyway, but I digress. Uh but anyway, the Habsburg Empire, when they control what became Croatia, they brought cuttings of this grape into their imperial nursery, the Schoenbrunn nursery. And eventually these cuttings made their way to Long Island, to the nursery of George Gibbs in the 1820s, likely around 1829. And really was brought out to the East Coast because it was seen as a good grape for table grape production. I mean, wine growing, making wine of it was not even really on the table, if you will. Um, but that's where we kind of start getting sort of the early iterations of where we get the name Zinfandel. It was likely mislabeled as either black Zinfardel, which is a completely different grape grown within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or a Zirfundler, which is an aromatic white grape grown in the Thurman region of Austria, which makes no sense. But that's where we get the term Zinfandel. And it was brought to Boston in the early 1830s, and it was labeled as Zinfendel with an E, and then the name kind of morphed into how we now call it and spell it today. Yeah, Frederick McCondri, he's a nurseryman and sea captain who was credited with bringing Zinfandel to California in the 1850s. And Captain Joseph W. Osborne owned the property that is now owned by the Trefethan family in the Oak Knoll district, and he got cuttings of Zinfandel from Macondre. And this was in the uh early to mid-1850s, and that was one of the most significant plantings of Zinfandel in California at his estate. And there's a guy named William Boggs over in Sonoma who was part of the Sonoma Horticultural Society, and he got cuttings of Zinfandel and other varieties from Napa and brought it by wagon over to, like I said, Sonoma Horticultural Society and planted it at this vineyard. And it was apparently a kind of a cool, wet year. And ironically, Zinfandel was the only variety that survived. And so, like, okay, let's let's go with this basically. And they made wine from it, and apparently the wine was kind of tart, and they were fairly disappointed. But keep in mind that in 19th century California, any wine that was made, if it was a good wine, it was rich, it was sweet, it was alcoholic. The Spanish missions, or the Spanish, when they invaded Mexico and uh what would become California, they brought mission grapes and they made this wine called Angelica, which is like almost like a Solera-style sweet wine. There's just a couple producers that still make it. Um, there's one down, I think Foxon still makes one, and then Swanson, when they were still around, they made one that was really good. Anyway, again, I digress. But any good wine in California was rich and sweet. Anyway, so like I said, this infidel that they made, it was kind of tart. They were disappointed. And so they went over to General Vallejo's house, and his physician and winemaker, Victor Foray, was uh a Frenchman, and they thought that maybe they could trade it, and maybe Foray could make vinegar out of it, but then they could trade it for something else. And as the story goes, Foray tasted this wine and they said, Hey, wait a minute, this tastes like a good claret. It reminded him of a good Bordeaux. And supposedly that was kind of this the moment of realization that, oh, maybe this Zinfandel grape could actually make something really good and really interesting. Then in 1859, you had a nurseman named Antoine Delmas who made a prize-winning wine from uh Black St. Peter, which I think is a great name. Uh, Black St. Peter, which is a synonym for Zinfandel. Then in the 1860s, you had, you know, the American Civil War, you had a bit of a depression. Uh, 1876 is when phlox hit California. But the 1880s is when you saw this really big planting boom in the great state of California. And with that, you also had a lot of Italian and Portuguese immigrants who embraced the idea of field blending, where, you know, you would plant, say, mostly Zinfandel, because that was kind of what was most widely on hand. Um, but then you would plant a hodgepodge of other varieties. You would plant maybe some Carignon for acidity, you'd plant some Alacante Boucher because it gives you good yields and it's hardy and it's got it's got good color, that's for sure. Uh, maybe you plant a little muscat for, you know, just cuz, uh, or golden shostlaw because the clusters are huge and you just want some volume. You just want something to get fishnic on. Uh, and then you just pick it all at the same time and co-ferment it. It's also a bit of an insurance policy because if you have like inclement weather one one variety, yeah, for one variety, you're not going to lose your entire crop, which I'm kind of learning this year because I've I make a little bit of cider from a small orchard that my parents own. And I've got a really bad case of fire blight that I've been trying to fight and cut out. And anyway, but it's hitting some of the pear trees really hard. But then there's some apple trees like the Wicks and Crab Apple that are totally fine, and um, some like the red Grapenstein, totally fine. So, case in point, how you know, if you have, if it's not a great year for one variety, you're not at a total loss, if you will. Um, but then you start seeing the shift from field blending to single varietal plantings in the 1920s, and that was really because of prohibition. Everyone could do 200 gallons of bathtub wine, and so people wanted to know what they were buying. And that's when you start seeing, say, a block is infantile block of petite straw instead of interplanting them. But during prohibition, uh, the most widely planted grape in California was Alocante Boucher because it could withstand those long train journeys from the West Coast to the East Coast for home wine production. Zin was all right, but it wasn't as hardy as Alocante Boucher. Interesting. Yeah. Um so I'd like to try more single variety uh Alocante Boucher. I think uh Carol Sheldon makes one called Bluetooth, but I haven't had it yet. But anyway, Alicante became one of the most widely planned grapes. Zinfandel was still a really important grape variety in California. Then during the 1950s, UC Davis was looking for ways for California wine growers and producers to be able to command a higher price for their wines. And so they looked to the great wines of France, most notably Bordeaux and Burgundy. And that was sort of the beginning of the sort of interest in Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. And then Pinot Noir, which ironically, it took California a long time to figure out where to grow Pinot. Then in 1967, Austin Goheen, uh famed plant pathologist for UC Davis, he was at a conference in Puglia. And as the story goes, he was at some Bistro Cafe and so and he was with his colleagues, and they gave him uh they poured him this wine, and it was like, wow, this tastes a lot like Zinfandel. And they were like, Well, this is you know, local wine. It's made from Primitivo. And so they went out to a vineyard and he saw these Primitivo vines, and they looked a lot like Zinfandel. And so he had um cutting sent back to UC Davis. And then in 1975, uh a PhD student by the name of Wade Wolf did isozyme fingerprinting where you basically send electric currents to isolated plant enzymes. And essentially, Zinfandel and Primativo were very similar, pretty much a pretty much a match. But at the time, you know, you didn't have you know DNA like genetic testing that you do today. And so it was it was indicated but not confirmed. Um, also in the 70s was kind of an interesting time because around 1972, Bob Trincaro was looking to make a bigger, bolder style of Zinfandel uh from Amador County. I believe it was the Deaver Vineyard. So he did something called a seigneur, meaning to bleed, where you bleed off 15-20% of your juice, and then you make a rose out of it. And it's great for cash flow in a winery and also helps you make a bigger, more concentrated red wine. So he started doing this supposedly in 72. Then in 1975, he did the same thing. And for whatever reason, there was a stuck fermentation, and they couldn't get the damn thing to finish fermenting to dryness. So they decided to just say, screw it, let's just bottle it. And that created what we now know as White Zinfandel, you know, this sort of semi-sweet wine. Yeah, you know, a little Jolly Rancher and some vodka and it's so good.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

I'm saying that, like honestly, it tastes like strawberry cake frosting. But I like it.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

I like it. Put it in the uh the freezer and let it go until it's about slushy state. Oh and you're and you're good to go. It's yeah, it's it um there is a wine for every occasion. It's so good.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Totally. It's the ultimate frose. There you go. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, and so it was fascinating thing too with white zin, is that it had its, as you often hear in the industry, it was this double-edged sword where in some cases people associated Zinfandel as you say Zinfandel, then you think White Zinn, to the point that Joel Peterson, uh, when he started Ravenswood, his his slogan was no wimpy wines. And that was really a reaction against White Zinfandel to kind of let people know, like, hey, this is not white Zen.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

We're serious about wines. No wimpy wines.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

No wimpy wines. Uh but then at the same time, it also helped save some of these old Zinn vineyards because there was a renewed interest in Zinfandel for white zin. And by the end of the 1980s, it's estimated they were planting about 3,000 acres a year, if I'm not mistaken. But then at the same time, in these old Zinn vineyards, grapes with deep color like Petite Syrah and Alacante Boucher were not valued because they wanted a lighter color. And so growers who were selling to producers for making white zin, they were encouraged to rip those vines out. So those vineyards became more homogenous. And then in the 80s and 90s, you know, 70s through, I say 70s through 90s, you know, you also had the establishment of some really iconic producers like Joseph Swan and uh Ridge and Ravens and Ravenswood and Turley, and then the early 90s, Bialli. There was also kind of an emphasis on, you know, kind of bigger, more like big fruit bomb wines. And so then Zinn also kind of got this reputation of being really jammy and alcoholic. And now I think we're kind of in the stage where you know, producers are picking earlier and looking to produce Zinfandels that are truly expressive of where they're coming from. And you look at some producers, like say Bialy, Bedrock, and their Zins are not above 15%. They're usually in that 14.4 to 14.8, which is technically high, but for Zinfandel, you know, that's pretty darn restrained. And it's important too to note that Zinfandel is not an easy grape to work with. And obviously, Cody, you can, you know, speak more intelligently to this since I, you know, I'm an over educated wine pourer. You actually grow and do something importantly in the in the industry.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Uh I think you're overselling it. And the last time I grew Zin, I think was when I was in Pasarobles.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Yeah. Uh hey, I just drink it and talk about it. Yeah, me too. But you know, it's uh it's a grape that um it's thin-skinned, you have tightly compact clusters, it's prone to having pretty heavy wings, which is the almost like these little like mini clusters that can then crush other berries, and then you have an issue with like botrytis infection. It's infamous for uneven ripening. So on a cluster, you'll have ripe berries, but then you'll have underripe berries and you'll have raisins. And then those raisins can really push your alcohol levels up, and you can get these sort of jammy dried fruit qualities, which is not a bad thing, but it it definitely can affect the style of wine unless you have a means of separating out those raisins. Um, and then also, you know, in cool, wet years, and so in many cases, it can be a little bit more prone to um to coolure. And then also, you know, when you look at the regions in California, they're not without significant challenges. So obviously in the Napa Valley, you know, if you're farming Zin, you're not going to be able to, you know, um ask for the same price as you would for Cabernet, even though it might cost just as much, if not in maybe some cases more to farm it. Um, hence why Zinfandel used to be the most widely planned grape in Napa. Now it accounts for about 2% of what's planted in the valley, even though it grows extremely well out here.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

Yeah, that's a good point. I didn't think about it from that perspective. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Yeah. And then over uh, you know, in Amador County, there's some vineyards that are on their own roots. So there's issues with potential like phylloxra. Um, you know, in Lodi, there's some really cool old vineyards, but there's also increased labor costs and there's a push towards mechanization, and you can't mechanize any of these bushfinds, um, which incidentally, the whole bushfind thing, it's argued that that came about really because when Zinfandel was brought over to California right on the heels of the gold rush, a lot of the timber and wire that would have been used for trellising was being used for mining. So it was due to this like lack of resources that that was really your only option was to basically do head train spur pruned or an in uh Puglio, they call it Alborello. But Zinfandel does really well in that method because it likes warmth, but it's thin skinned and it's prone to sunburn. And so you could get this nice dapple light, you know, by having it, having it be a bushvine. But then also going to other regions like Contra Costa County, you have huge pressure from housing, you know, and like I said, you're not gonna be able to, you know, command a you know, a hundred to maybe two hundred dollars a bottle yet. But at the same time, I think that a lot of people are looking for wines that have history and heritage from producers that care. And I think that if you are a Zinfandel producer, you really do care because you gotta be committed and passionate.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

It's it's a fanatical, it's a it's a wine grape for fanatics. Um it's the the people that want Zen that they want to grow Zen, they want to make Zen, and they want to consume Zen, they they I I I think are probably in a higher I I think you the one might be surprised the level of wine knowledge that the average Zen consumer has because they're they really it's it's a grape that you know if you if you want something from one of these producers that has a lot of history and a lot of uh time invested in their in their vineyards to make quality true to type Zen, they're they're putting in the work. And so the people that are consuming those wines, they they know what they're about. And uh if you're a patriot, you drink Zen because it's America's grape. So it's uh yeah, it's it's just a it's a really cool expression of California's wine-making heritage. Um so yeah, I it's it can be like a lot of things, it can be really great um with a lot of intention. It also unfortunately has you know some some some bad actors out there that that give it a a kind of a less than stellar reputation. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Yeah, I feel like everyone can make Zinfandel, not everyone knows how to make Zinfandel. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

And that poses a question I've been thinking about. I don't know if you touched on it, but so then why do you think Xinfandel just fell by the wayside and Cabernet kind of became more popular? Is it the fact that people wanted more of a Bordeaux style of wine, or is it the whole white Zinfandel? This is seen more as cheap and not refined.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

I think it's both of those. I yeah, I think that yeah, the cheap and not refined, the associate the guilt by association of white Zin, and then the fact that um, you know, some of the greatest wines of the world uh are made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. And, you know, I also think too like it took a while for us to figure out where Zinfandel came from. That was and Carol Meredith figured that out uh officially in 2001 that it was it was from Croatia. And part of that too was that you know it was not it's not a French variety, so it was not under the scrutiny of um like University of Montpellier that did some of this like research back in the day. Sorry, but uh but yeah, so I think it's it's a factor of both of those, in my opinion. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Yeah, I I think that's that rings true. Um, you know, if we had a a like a uh a wine historian here, they they might be able to elaborate um maybe at greater greater length. But I think the marketing too, if you look at Napa when it really kind of came on the scene, um you know, you look at things like the judgment of Paris, you know, um, and the wines that really set Napa uh up for, you know, the success that it has today, they were Chardonnay and Gab. And um, that's not to say in the 70s that we weren't growing Zinn and other things. It's it's just these were the wines that rose to prominence. Um and it it kind of set the tone. Um, so it is guilt by association, you know, white Zinn to Zinn. Um, but it's also you look at um, you know, Robert Mondavi, the work that they were doing promoting the wines. It's it's it's as much about branding as it is about the quality of the wine that was being produced. And it just that's cab just kind of was the thing that they selected to promote. Um, it got good scores at a period of time. It was just kind of this perfect storm of things happening, and Zinn just kind of fell by the wayside.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

It reminds me of I I I think I heard a story that was it, Genesis, like that. There, there's an issue with their front man left or something like that. So they're like, let's give Phil Collins a go. So he got off his drums off the drums, and they were like, Okay, yeah, he's the new front man. Yeah, and I almost wanted it's a little bit like Cabernet, it was like right moment, right time, right people hyping it up, and that's why it's most widely planted.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

And the rest is history, and that and oftentimes that's kind of how it works out. And so it's it it would be fascinating to see. I I genuinely I in my in my relatively short career, I have never planted Zen. I've managed a couple Zen blocks at very small acreage, but I have never planted Zen. Um I'd I'd be curious to see who's actually doing it, who's who in the in the market that we have right now um is going back in in California with Zen. Um the people that are doing it, uh it's in their backyard or they just are fanatical about Zinfandel and what it can do. Um so it'll be curious it'll be interesting to see. Um in 10, 15 years' time, who's who is still making Zen and and being, you know, its champion.