Why is white zinfandel trashy

But then along come we humans, ascribing all kinds of qualities to it, and we end up with varietal hierarchies, the vinous equivalent of royalty and peasantry.

I think this is true. Perform a thought experiment. Why do you think the Chinese are paying a zillion dollars for Lafite? Funny how so many of them are from Dry Creek Valley. No coincidence, that; in Dry Creek, the vines, often very old, are happiest.

I have been drinking their wines for years. And they age very very well too. I am sure that if RP had cottoned on to Zin the way he had with Bordeaux, Rhone, Barossa we might have seen the same effect. Thank god that has not happened.

Thanks again for a great piece Steve… Cheers! However, like almost every single red wine grape variety, Zin shines best when blended. His wines from the early part of this century are elegant, complex and still youthful. Its generally just not a complex wine, but more of a comfort wine, a quaffer, or something to pair with classic food like BBQ. Most are made for the average American New World palate. Like many wides made for New World palate and mass consumption, the tendency towards big, fruit forward designed to appeal to the mass, unsophisticated palate is easy to fall into.

I can appreciate a well made Zin. And I actually enjoy and buy zin, especially cooler climate RRV; I have also found Zins with some bottle time to drink well, if made with enough structure. Whats interesting to me is the climbing price points. For a zin as unique and carefully crafted as Ridge — I get it. When the fruit bombs start going there, thats a different story. Zinfandel can be as good as Ridge, which means balanced, focused and able to improve in the bottle or as immediate as the slightly sweetened versions that are also in the marketplace and are meant for drinking today.

It can be a serious wine, but it is not Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir. And any suggestion to the contrary simply does not understand its full potential. I agree with Charlie and to some degree William.

They love and admire Old World wines, too. Raisin in an acidic, somewhat green wine is unwelcome to me. I wonder though is this is a sort of varietal character, like bell pepper in Cab, if not complexity that could be desired if trumpeted loud enough by many voices.

Maybe something in the middle is a worthwhile goal. A lot of wine mythology seems to be about self-fulfilling prophesy. If a wine is good, then it can sell for more, and a winery can invest more in making it good consistently. If a wine is bad, no one buys it, and it wont improve without capital investment.

But it does appear some distinct terroirs, just as with Cab Franc in the Loire or Nebbiolo in Piedmont, elevate it. Bill, Bonne writes mainly on CA wines, so I think he likes them. He is playing a sort of Zin ombudsman role in my estimation. As for Old World snobs, some take it too far by thinking classifications from centuries past are the be-all, end-all. But there is nonetheless a respected tradition of dry tables wines with vinous flavor profiles.

The flavors and balance point of CA wines should be different, but if wineries choose to forge a new path off-dry Zin semi-port under the title of dry table wine, then they should be called on it. The real world in general, Steve, is quite enthusiastic about Zinfandel: re the 7, plus partaking in ZAP each year.

Of course not. Nothing wrong with the first scenario. But the second one? Anthropomorphizing wine. Serious wine. What next? We will giving our autos names like Rocky for a truck and such.

I think a better way to think of this is asking if the winemaker is serious, about making the best out of what he has. Is a light gulpable wine not serious, because it is fun? Part of what I think is that because of the relatively short history of the US some people equate that short history with a lack of culture or cultural heritage. People like to drink wines for different reasons on different occasions.

Take the consumer serious, give them well made wines to choose from. Perhaps some time ago some one decided that Malbec was serious enough for the Argentinians to get into the market with it. Steve, do you really mean that? Lastly, if most Zinfandel producers took it seriously; aiming at dry, still wines, instead of reductive, syrupy, alcoholic sodas, as you accurately noted, my guess is that the current negative stereotype would be reversed and then not only wine critics but everyone would start taking it seriously.

Peter, I do consider Petite Sirah, at its best, a world class wine. And I agree with you that if producers took Zin seriously, it would be taken more seriously by the public. Obviously, the best examples will seek some refinement but I still want them to have the soul of a zin like putting heated, leather seats in a Shelby Mustang…. So…enjoy Zins but do not make them or take them seriously please! I would tend to say the same thing about Aussie Shiraz. All the usual ass-covering provisos apply here; there are plenty of well made Zins out there.

There are also many that seem like they should not be commercially viable due to high residual sugar and volatile acidity levels to say nothing of the oft-ranted about alcohols , but they find favor with a large portion of Zin-aficionados. When you do, you may see that Zinfandel in general, like all other wine categories of quality be it Chianti, Bordeaux, German Riesling, California Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, etc.

Many zin lovers are well aware that there is a trend towards less raisiny or jammy fruit, lower alcohol, less obnoxious oak, etc.

Point is: one of the beauties of the grape is its constant variability of style. What explains the unending proliferation of small brands, many of them artisanal, specializing in the grape, and marching them out each year at events at ZAP? One thing they know: they sure are drinking up a helluva lot of Zinfandel, and zin producers are crying all the way to the bank.

There has been a surge of acreage of Pinot Noir in the Central Valley, intended for line extensions and chain brands at low prices. Meanwhile, many former suppliers of white Zin are trying to adjust their vineyard practices to produce quality red Zin.

High end Pinot Noir has experienced substantial discounting, while mid and lower priced Pinot Noir sales are on fire. In contrast, the weakest part of the Zin market has been line items in big chain-oriented brands; new mid-priced brands and vineyard or appellation-driven higher priced wines have shown steady growth in sales. Zinfandel often shows terroir extremely well. Yes, if Zin is overripe and overoaked it can lose distinction, but this is a battle being played out across most red varieties these days.

Consumer research shows that high end Zin enthusiasts are well-versed in and regularly consume those other varieties, but they have settled on Zin as their favorite. Interestingly, perhaps because of conversations like this one, they are more hesitant to order Zin in high visibility social situations, like business dinners. Had never been much of a Zin fan for all of the usual reasons but just got to do my first visit to Ridge Lyton Springs on Wednesday.

The diversity really impressed me and we walked away with a few bottles, one from year old vines I think. Changed my perspective a lot and it was way better than the Napa Cabs we had this week. Anything can be serious when well executed. Music, art, food, relationships. Only eat steak though. Zin and Sauvignon Blanc are my two favorite varietals. Ridge, Storybook Mountain, Rafanelli, all can be spectacular at times.

They seem to change all the time in the glass. First they seem elegant and shy, with delicate enticing aromas of flowers and cherries alongside refined and silky palates, but then with time in the glass, they grow in color, aromatic strength, and sheer power.

I have rarely discovered such energy in a Sangiovese. I want to say, first off, many thanks to all of you who have said such fine things about Ridge Vineyards!

Secondly, I wonder if I might address the question of serious vs. I find that both Ridge, and Zinfandel, have fascinating histories specifically because of the way they have historically lived at some unique juncture point of high and low brow tendencies; when they succeed, they perform a marvelous integration of funk and sophistication, head and heart, technique and instinct.

Many if not all of our greatest artists throughout history were deadly serious about producing that which would ideally be entertaining to us; comedians who rehearsed jokes for 10 hours a day, composers who brought themselves to the brink of exhaustion at the piano, painters who drove themselves to the edge of madness at the canvass, writers who labored over every punctuation mark in every poem.

As recipients of their artistry and dedication, we revel in the sensual enjoyment of their creations, be they light or heavy, fun or serious, playful or ponderous. The point being, one can be serious about making a zinfandel that is flat out fun to drink. And we are certainly not alone in doing this. All the accolades, devotions, and praises evident in this comment feed alone attest to it.

Cheers to zinfandel, and cheers, as always, to Steve for producing such effectively provocative writing. Hi Steve, I have only had a little exposure to Zin as it is not grown much in OZ, no prohibition here , but I learned how good it can be over a day in Dry Creek. I am working my way through a box of Zin from Prince Hill in Mudgee OZ, it is not a great wine but a more than enjoyable drop with rich meats.

On balance I guess I would say, Zin can be a great wine, expect to pay for the winemakers talent, but oh so much dross out there in checkout land USA. It is located next to the critter wines. Zins are a versatile wine. They can be light, fruity to big, bold,high alcohol to fruit bombs to fun whimsical. Not many wines can have such a vaiety of personalities. Why take Zin so serious when it is so fun!

It is wine to be consumed on a cold, blustry winter day in front of the fire place or sipped with ice as a white Zin on a hot day at the pool. Zins are a matter of reflection and perception with a touch of dash and panache! Gotta love it for its diverseness. Should be the drink of the Democratic Party since it can handle such diverse personalitieis so well. I gave it one of my highest Zinfandel scores in Think about it. While you may believe that you can pick an Alexander Cab out of a Napa line-up, I would highly doubt it.

But look at Zins from Calistoga vs. Dry Creek vs. Shenandoah vs. Russian River vs. I think it was my first ovz, 60 year old vines, but it had elegance and balance too. Check it out during your look-see! We purchase equal amounts of Zin and Cabs at our house, but many of the cabs and occasional Bordeaux end up on the cellar racks, whereas almost all of the zins get drunk soon after purchase. Is this a sign of seriousness on my part, or am I merely following the advice of people who know more than I when it comes to maximizing a wines potential?

Is it age ability for that small percentage of people who have the space for a wine cellar? Is it collectability for those who look at wine as an investment or as a great trophy?

Is it the wine you share with those you most enjoy spending time? I believe that each of these makes a wine serious differently. One of the key parts of the three days and four events was releasing ten years of research at The Heritage Vineyard, which was a chance to literally taste the very serious history of Zinfandel in California.

I at D-cubed Cellars along with the other ZAP Producers welcome you to renew your relationship with the both serious and fun wine that is Zinfandel. But I am hoping to re-examine it this year. It would help if you could encourage more of your members to send me Zins for review! To my buddy Chris Watkins at Ridge — That was one of the most well thought out, well versed blog responses I have ever read.

To walk the line between fun and serious — not an easy thing to do. You do it well my friend. More people are drinking pink these days, and U. What was once exclusively the wine of the mahjong set has become the go-to drink for everyone from Hamptons-going socialites to Bud Light-drinking basic bitches to Nebo copywriters with a thing for pop punk. It has a long history with roots dating back to ancient Greece. The pink variation was the drink of choice for Greeks in the fifth century B.

It was the most popular option until around B. Red is the way to go. In the mid s, it made its way west, and America started producing its own brand of pink wine. Rather than toss out the sweet, pink concoction they were left with, Sutter Home head winemaker Bob Trinchero decided to bottle it, and the white zinfandel we all ascribe to our favorite grandmothers was born. America fell in love with blush wines like the white zinfandel. Pink wines became a staple in the U. Pretty good, right?

Although blush wines were popular, they were not respected. The general population soon took note. White zin disappeared from restaurant menus. It was as condemned as New Coke. The Keystone of the wine world. It died a quick death, and anyone respectable still drinking the stuff did so in private, away from the judging eyes of their peers. The wine would spend the next plus years setting the record straight.

Sales have skyrocketed. Maybe it was the rise of vintage and thrifted fashion or the mainstreaming of hipsters and their PBR, but for whatever reason the Great Recession , cheap has become socially acceptable.