Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/33511
VARIETALS immensely popular in the States and now accounts for approximately ten percent of U.S. wine sales by volume. In January, partly in recognition of his innovation, Bob was inducted into the California Vintners Hall of Fame during a gala dinner at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. “Bob was a visionary winemaker,” says Terra d’Oro’s Leamy, who spent five years as a microbiologist before becoming a winemaker. “In fact, we still saignée to intensify our red Zin. We pull the free-run juice off immediately at the hopper when it’s still almost clear, vinify it separately and then return it to the red wine as needed.” Red Zinfandel has been criticized for being too alcoholic, although modern winemaking techniques have helped make it more approachable. On the other hand, many producers believe that alcohol-removing technologies, such as reverse osmosis and spinning cones, also delete terroir. If a wine has the tannins and other components to balance 15 percent alcohol, so goes the argument, it should be accepted on its own terms. “The grape’s greatest strength is that it can make many different wines,” Leamy says. “Of course, that’s also Zin’s biggest weakness. Output varies from bright strawberry- and watermelon- laced quenchers to raisiny, chewy prune-fests and everything between.” Terroir, Style and Skill Zin is often praised for its ability to reflect both terroir and winemaker style and skill. Unfortunately, the grape also ripens unevenly, with single bunches containing both raisin-like, overripe grapes and green, non-ripe ones. Some winemakers choose to vinify with varying levels of ripeness, while others hand-harvest, berry-by-berry, via multiple vineyard passes over several weeks. This extensively laborious practice is one component in the high cost of some wines. When grapes are harvested, the length of fermentation and maceration and the level of oak all bear on the wine’s taste. The degree of sugar (Brix) at which the grapes are har- vested dramatically affects flavor, as well. As the Brix level rises, strawberry becomes cherry becomes blackberry and prune. 116 / the tasting panel / june 201 1 Winemaker Chris Leamy makes five different Zinfandels at Terra d’Oro. “So much variety can confuse the consumer,” says Leamy. “But for me it makes the journey at least as much fun as the destination. Once each year’s harvest journey is done we start prepar- ing for the next one. The only thing we know is that it will be different. That’s exciting, and it’s probably why I don’t have a lot of outside pursuits. I’m still trying to find a hobby as fun as my job!” “Zin has panache,” agrees GM Meyers. “It’s fun and different, and perhaps that’s why it also suffers from a certain lack of respect. In California, we’re much more aware of Zinfandel’s attractive qualities. In the rest of the world, the grape is in more of a niche, where being on a wine list is a big deal.” Sure, California Zinfandel is geneti- cally equivalent to Croatian Crljenak Kaštelanski and to the Primitivo traditionally grown on the heel of Italy. But it also has unique characteristics based on a long period of adaptation to uniquely New World terroir. These differences separate Zinfandel from a coterie of cousins and make it as American as cherry pie. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRINCHERO FAMILY ESTATES