Zinfandel Wine

If there is a single grape variety that is most closely identified as "California", it's Zinfandel. While genetic testing has shown it to originate in Croatia (Crljenak Kaštelanski) and probably arrived in the United States from Italy (Primitivo), California is home to Zinfandel. Zinfandel is a red grape. The color is all in the skin, as with most red wine grapes. The semi-sweet version known as "White Zinfandel" is pink, with the slight color coming from brief contact with the skins. The red wine receives a fairly standard treatment.

The red wine is generally quite robust and spicy, with the flavors varying depending upon the ripeness of the grapes at harvest. The primary fruit flavor is raspberry. In cooler areas (and vineyards picked early) this shows as fresh red raspberry, with excellent balancing acidity. In hotter areas, the fruit flavors tend more toward black raspberry and blackberry jam, with lower acidity that reveals a wine that tastes sweeter, even if it is fermented dry. Secondary flavors tend toward red spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and clove. It can also show some anise and black pepper.

Zinfandel vines remain productive for longer than many other varieties; over a hundred years in many cases. Old vines produce smaller berries, with fewer berries per bunch, leading to more robust and concentrated wines.