ZAP is a non profit organization that, according the promo literature, is "dedicated to the advancing the public's knowledge of and appreication for Zinfandel grown in America and its unique place in American culture and history." Indeed, zinfandel does have a rich American history and is really unique to our country. Zinfandel originated in Austria, not southern Italy as previously suggested.
Three producers were present to talk about the nuances of zinfandel grown in the Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Paso Robles in the central coast.
Carol Shelton, owner and winemaker of Carol Shelton Wines, talked about her wines and Sonoma zins. A lot are field blends (meaning blended with all sorts of different grapes, but having the minimum 75% zinfandel), ripe, jammy, peppery, spice. Depending on where it's grown in Sonoma, some zinfandels will show mineral and earthy characteristics and red fruit.
Duane Dappen, owner and winemaker of D-cubed Cellars in Napa, talked about wines from the Napa region. They are intensely fruity, peppery, full bodied+ and tannic.
Doug Beckett, owner of Peachy Canyon Winery, talked about zins from Paso Robles. Here, the zinfandels are more fruit forward, with raspberry and chocolate flavors and not very oaked. The west side of Paso Robles has higher elevations, more rainfall and is cooler. The east side is flatter and has more sun. What does that mean? It means that the east side Paso zins will be lighter in color and less concentrated. We should taste more leather and tobacco from the west side zins. Interesting.
We next tasted 8 zinfandels blind and were to guess which region they came from. I found it a great exercise.
The first group was from Napa. The 3 wines I tasted were spicy, peppery, full bodied and tannic with fruit flavors of blackberries, black cherries, black plums, dried fruit as well.
The second flight was from Paso Robles. I tasted red and black plums, jam, leather notes, mineralty and herbs. These were a little lighter in color than the other two regions.
The third flight were Sonoma wines. There was lots of minerality, more acidity than the first two flights, flavors of stewed fruits, plums and prunes.
Full disclosure: I was never a big zinfandel fan. Really. I just found it too big, too peppery, too jammy, too full in the mouth. I know, some people are really into that 'full thing' and that's OK by me. There's always a wine to fit all tastes and that's one of the great things about the beverage.
Overall, I enjoyed them all, but I realize I like zinfandels from Paso Robles. They tasted a little more refined and really showed the essence of zinfandel, even for a young wine. (Most of these were from the 2008 or 2009 vintage.) I also thought that these wines would be more food friendly than the fuller zins. My favorite two wines were Proulx Wines (pronounced "prew") and Peachy Canyon.
Then a beautiful 3-course lunch followed the blind tasting. We started the meal with a homemade fettuccine, coriander scended baby lamb ragu, fava beans and fresh mint. Then I had beef cheeks braised in spiced red wine with savoy cabbage and semolina gnocchi. The assorted wines complemented the dishes so well. For dessert, an extra bitter chocolate fondant that oozed out chocolate was paired with pistacchio ice cream and raspberry coulis. Carol Shelton served a dessert zinfandel to pair with it. It was just sublime.
The next time you find yourself in a wine shop, look for a zinfandel. Try it. If you're REALLY in the mood, try one from Paso Robles, Sonoma and Napa. Tell me if you find those characteristics as the winemakers described.
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| Appetizer |
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| Beef Cheek main course |
Links:
http://www.zinfandel.org/
http://www.societyofwineeducators.org/
http://www.sd26ny.com/
http://www.dcubedcellars.com/
http://www.carolshelton.com/
http://www.peachycanyon.com/
http://www.proulxwines.com/
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