Zinfandel has long been considered California’s “own” grape varietal. The truth is that all of the grape varietals we know today, such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and so on, are all European imports. We previously believed that Zinfandel was an actual American varietal, and claimed it as such, but after tracing its roots back for the past decade or so, we have other possible origins to consider. Zinfandel was thought for some time to actually be Primitivo from Umbria Italy, and now it allegedly has Croatian roots, as an offshoot of the grape Crljenak Kaštelanski. Whatever it might be (it’s hard to keep up), I do believe that California does best with this varietal, and the best place to locate the “Zen of Zin” is the Dry Creek Valley AVA in Sonoma.
I can’t speak about Red Zinfandel without mentioning its evil twin White Zinfandel. Yes, it’s the same grape, but White Zinfandel spends less time on the skins (which gives wine its color) and rather than fermenting it dry like most wines, sugar is left in the wine. White Zinfandel was made famous in the 70’s by Sutter Home…it was created by accident when Bob Trinchero was making a rosé from Zinfandel and the fermentation stopped, leaving more sugar in his wine. Bob decided to put some of this juice aside, tasted it a couple weeks later, and decided to sell it. BOOM! Thus began the White Zinfandel craze, and it hasn’t stopped since! Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a hater to anyone drinking White Zin! I started there just as many other people have and will continue to do in the future. It’s a perfect gateway to start developing your palate for wine.
Let’s get away from the “non-serious” Zinfandels—those with the clever, over-the-top names or the wild, eye-catching packaging; I’m want to spotlight the people that are making crazily complex Zins in their sacred home in Dry Creek Valley. Famous names include Dry Creek Vineyards (a pioneer in Dry Creek), A. Rafanelli (only available on fine wine lists) Dashe, Seghesio, Pezzi-King…and the list goes on. These are not the over-heated, super-ripe wines of Lodi, these are the complex, nuanced, fine wines of a cooler climate. The morning fogs from the Pacific help retain the acidity in the wines, yet it’s still warm enough here to get the grapes fully ripened without being “overcooked.”
The Dry Creek “Beeson Ranch” Zinfandel has such an explosion of potpourri, pepper, anise, damp earth, black and red fruits on the nose and has even more of these on the palate. It keeps evolving and surprising you with each sip you take. Finding wines like this for a $35 price point can be difficult, especially when you think of the Cabernet family and how much you’d normally have to spend to get this kind of complexity. Next time you are thinking of BBQ ribs, for example, pick up a bottle of a Dry Creek Zin, then sit back and let the magic happen!
Wine writer Maggie Bernat Smith contributes to the Strongbox blog each Friday.
If you refrain from drinking “bubbly” all year long (although I can’t understand why you would!) then this might be the perfect time to indulge. Champagne comes from all over the world, and each bottle is as different in style and flavor from each other as they are in price range.
Champagne usually makes special appearances at celebratory occasions, but it’s really just wine with bubbles in it! I think you can drink bubbly with any occasion, and so do other people that appreciate it. It’s the perfect way to start a meal—the acidity livens up the palate to get you ready for dinner. It’s perfect during the meal—champagne can accompany anything from fish to steak filet. It’s perfect after the meal—it pairs wonderfully with a cheese course for dessert. As you can see, I’m very much an advocate for bubbly, but it can be difficult to understand all the nuances of purchasing and enjoying it. Here’s a start to your bubbly education!
The most revered—and therefore most pricey—is true Champagne from the Champagne region of France. This is where bubbly was first developed. The French wineries of this region perfected the methods to make it, and they still make the best bubbly in the world. True Champagne starts in the $40 price range, and the sky’s the limit for a ceiling price. If you really want the most flavor, finesse, and elegance then buy true Champagne.
If you want really good Champagne at reasonable prices, then I suggest asking for a good “growers’ Champagne” the next time you’re shopping at Binny’s. These growers are small producers that make great tasting, high quality bubbly at lower prices, because they don’t spend all their money on marketing like Veuve Cliquot or Moet Chandon.
If you don’t want to go the true Champagne route, take the Cava highway. Cava is from Spain and makes excellent sparkling wine for the money you spend. Cava is made in the traditional manner, however, they use different grapes than those from Champagne. The climate is warmer in Cava, which produces a different style. Cava is my favorite substitution for true Champagne. It’s dry, crisp, clean, has apple and pear flavors, and also comes in rosé. Good Cava starts at $12 and goes up from there, but there’s no need to spend a lot for this bubbly.
If you like a slightly sweet or riper style of bubbly, then I suggest Prosecco from Italy. It’s not made in the same way as Champagne or Cava, but it is light, on the sweet side, and has of course plenty of bubbles for your enjoyment!
Whichever bubbly you choose, remember that you don’t need a wedding or other celebration to pour yourself a glass. Champagne can be its own special occasion!
Wine writer Maggie Bernat Smith contributes to the Strongbox blog each Friday.
Here’s a little treat for the wine enthusiast who also has a keen interest in science. Winemaking is, as we’ve pointed out before, both an art and a science, but so is the production of the goblets we use to drink our favorite varietals. Anybody who has seen a glass harp in action knows that every wineglass has a particular resonance, and that adding a certain amount of liquid to each glass will allow you to produce distinct notes. However, this resonance also gives each glass a unique weakness related to those tones—being exposed to a sound of the same pitch can cause the glass to bend, even shatter.
Below, a science exploration show takes the principles of resonance to show, in super slow-motion, the way that sound waves bend the very structure of a regular wine glass, and how these glasses shatter.
Now, it’s probably unlikely that you keep your sound system right next to your wine goblets, or that you have virtuoso opera singers practicing their high notes in your dining room…but just in case you find your wine glasses suddenly exploding, you’ll know what to start looking—or listening—for.
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