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Poor zinfandel.
Though California’s flagship grape certainly has experienced the highest highs, the ingrained legacy of White Zinfandel has tarnished this bold, layered, spiced red. Hailing from Croatia (where it is known as tribidrag), and also prolific in southern Italy (known as primitivo), this productive red is well used / abused for high yields of sunbaked jammy, ripe fruit. However, when care is taken and cropping is low, high quality, long-lived and complex wines result. Some of California’s top wines come from old, dry farmed, gnarly zin vines, brought by Italian immigrants in the mid-19th century. Typical characteristics of zinfandel include moderate tannin, higher acidity and alcohol, and ripe flavours of boysenberry, raspberry, plum, tobacco and baking spices.
With grilling season upon us, and zin pairing beautifully with most things grilled, here are our Top 10 Zinfandels recently tasted. *Keep these in mind for Father's Day gifts as well.
