Goodbye evil, sticky, blush-pink zinfandel, and hello bold, briary and beautiful red zinfandel. At last, low-life British drinkers obsessed with the sugary pink dross that is Blossom Hill, Echo Falls and Gallo Family Vineyards’ white zinfandel are switching colours, with sales of red up fivefold in the past three years.
Although the drop in pink zin purchases is tiny, and it still accounts for nearly nine out every ten bottles of zinfandel sold, it is at least a step in the right direction.
With 50,000 acres of zinfandel grapes in California, making it the third largest variety behind chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, it’s odd that top-drawer zinfandel has been so slow to woo drinkers here. There has been the odd great zinfandel from Ridge’s Lytton Springs and Geyserville vineyards and good value Ravenswood zinfandels at the lower end, but not much in between. Perhaps the problem has been the grape’s bewildering chameleon ability to turn into dry or sweet, pink or red and even fortified port-style versions. All that could change now that ZAP, an association of zinfandel advocates and 300 producers, is hell bent on getting British drinkers to “focus on zinfandel’s ability to produce fine wine” and “the site specificity, age ability and distinctive characteristics of California’s signature grape variety”.
Despite the odd pockets of zinfandel grown successfully in South Africa, Western Australia and elsewhere in the New World, the grape remains a California speciality. As last month’s ZAP tasting proved, in the right West Coast hands and soils zinfandel’s exotic perfume, earthy spice and berry fruit flavours, with blackberry to the fore, can be tamed and turned into a great red wine. Higher alcohol levels of 13.5-14.5 per cent suit this flamboyant grape and, given its big personality, it is best served with hearty stews and roasted red meats.
Ravenswood’s bold, sweet, berry fruit-stashed 2009 Vintners Blend 13.5 per cent Zinfandel is brilliant value (Booths £8.09, Asda, £8.48, Waitrose £9.99). Ditto the winery’s sweeter, riper, smoky, superior 2009 Lodi 14.5 per cent edition (Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, £9.49).
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Brazin’s 2009 Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel, from 35 to 100-year-old vines, is another charmer, this time a hefty 15 per cent, and oozing plump, complex, liquorice, plum and berry spice (Waitrose, down to £10.39 until Tuesday). Finally, go to zinstream.co.uk to pick up the truly seductive violets, myrtilles and black-fruits-styled 2009 7 Deadly Zins for £15.99. You won’t regret it, despite the terrible name.
By the way, don’t get too excited about the decline of pink zin, you should know there’s a grim, new, gimmicky, low-alcohol California sticky arriving here this month: moscato. My preview of Gallo’s dull, aniseedy, “lusciously sweet” 2011 Moscato effortlessly demonstrated that it is not worth the £6.79 likely to be demanded at Asda and Sainsbury’s.
This week’s best buys
2011 Santa Rita 120, Merlot, Central Valley, Chile
Majestic, £7.49, buy two for £5.99 each
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Santa Rita’s best red 120 duo yet includes this smashing, fat, spicy, plum and blackcurrant-laden, meaty pizza and pasta-loving merlot.
2011 Santa Rita 120, Carmenere, Central Valley, Chile
Majestic £7.49, buy two for £5.99 each
Spot on, vibrant, dusky, 120 carmenere with lots of scented, spicy, raspberry fruit, finished with currants and chocolate.
2010 Greco di Tufo, Lava, Campania, Italy
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Tesco £12.99
Glorious, zingy, floral, minerally greco from volcanic ash-laced soil, complete with a delicious herb and citrus finish: a fine apéritif.
2010 Finest Gavi, Piedmont, Italy Tesco £7.98
Deservedly popular Piedmont white, made entirely from the cortese grape and bursting with vibrant, mouthwatering, lemon-zest fruit.
The keeper
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2009 Barbera d’Alba, Vigna Pozzo, Renato Corino, La Morra, Italy
Swig (020-8995 7060), £24
A gorgeous silky-smooth barbera made from 55-year-old vines whose soft, squishy plum and herb-laden fruit is a triumph for the Corino family and the Alba region. Barbera, unlike barolo, is not a Piedmont red that many Italian devotees would think of cellaring. Yet Swig has tucked away Vigna Pozzo from previous vintages and a decade later has been rewarded with the same warm, smooth, rounded barbera fruit but with some fine, aged beef and truffle flavours.