When I heard that Ms. Feit would be reviewing Zin American Bistro, I thought it might be fun to talk a little about its namesake grape. Zinfandel is as American as jazz and baseball. Back in the 1940s, when California wine was cheap and disrespected, Italian immigrants used it for their table wines. By the 1960s, when Americans were developing a taste for wines, you could find it in jugs with names like Hearty Burgundy. By the 1980s, most folks had lost interest in zinfandel as they flocked to the fancier-sounding (and priced, by the way) wines like cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Then Sutter Home tried taking the zinfandel skins off the fermenting grapes and came up with a dull, overly sweet concoction they dubbed White Zinfandel. Wine snobs sniffed at the affront. By the middle 1990s, most quality wine drinkers couldn’t care less about zinfandel.
Which was a wonderful thing for the few who loved it. Since the grape was like Rodney Dangerfield, the fans of zinfandel could find deep, dark, and delicious red wines for about one-third of the price of equivalent quality cabs and merlots. Unfortunately, the word got out, and zin prices started going ever upward.
But with the incredible glut of wines all over the world right now, some great zinfandels are again showing up at bargain prices. I’m in a zin tasting club and have the opportunity to taste about 300 zins per year. Not all are worthy of your attention, but I’ve picked a few of my favorites to help guide you through the stores.
Here’s what you can expect. Zinfandel is a great food wine. It goes wonderfully with grilled or slow-cooked meats, sausages, and garlicky pastas. Zin also does well with several cheeses, including manchego, fresh mozzarella, gouda (try it with the Grape Vine Market’s 6-year-old gouda for a real thrill), and, for local food lovers, any of the Pure Luck goat cheeses. When experts describe classic zinfandel flavors and aromas, you’ll hear terms like blackberry, raspberry, plum, cherry, pomegranate, vanilla, black pepper, clove, and mint. All those terms fit zin nicely. Zins come in two styles, intensely fruity (most common) or elegant and restrained. More money for a bottle usually translates into more intensity or more elegance.
Starting at the low end of prices, around $10, some reliable brands include Rancho Zabaco, Ravenswood, and Cline. The Ranch Zabaco Dancing Bull Zinfandel ($9) is very food-friendly with flavors of the darker fruits and just enough tart cherry to make it a good match with a rich sauce. Ravenswood’s Vintner’s Blend ($9) tends more toward the red fruits in the classic description, like raspberries and pomegranates. Cline’s California Zinfandel ($10) has a tarter flavor suited to a spicy sausage.
In the $10-15 range, Rancho Zabaco and Ravenswood both do a wonderful job. Ravenswood’s Lodi Zinfandel ($13) is one of my favorite wines. The Lodi area of California has weather almost as variable as Austin, so some years do better than others. Right now you should find both the 2000 and 2001 vintages in the stores. Both are good, but I prefer the 2001. What you get for your extra $3 over the Vintner’s Blend is more intense fruit and more sweet vanilla aromas. The Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage Vines Zinfandel ($11) has a more elegant taste and a tiny bit more complexity than the Dancing Bull.
Moving up to the $15-20 range yields huge improvements. My single favorite brand of zinfandel, St. Francis, has its entry-level wine, Old Vines ($19), in this category. If you go back a few paragraphs to the classic descriptions, the Old Vines matches all of them. It is intense and filled with enough flavors and aromas to keep you guessing for the whole night. Seghesio’s Sonoma County Zinfandel ($16) sits just a smidge below St. Francis, in my estimation, missing a little bit of the thick richness. In some vintages, though (like 1997 and 1999), it is the better wine.
Finally, remember, your best friend is a wine-shop worker who you trust and who knows your preferences. High-quality little labels show up all the time, and sometimes they end up in just one store. Always ask if they’ve come up with something you might like.
This article appears in July 25 • 2003.
