National Zinfandel Day!

Tomorrow, 17 November, is National Zinfandel Day. Not sure who declares such events, but am only too glad to celebrate.

My cookery leans towards Italy and the Mediterranean, with a strong emphasis on cheese, homegrown tomatoes, and olive oil. Zinfandel (and its parent grape Primitivo) are the perfect complement to such dishes.

My all-time favourite is Maccone Primitivo, from Angiuli Donato. Bought a case a couple years ago and have a few bottles left.

https://i.imgur.com/cvDOepR.jpg

The Reverse Wine Snob website has occasional specials that offer good zins at reasonable prices. I just ordered a half-case of Tin Barn Zin, a small production Russian River Valley wine, total cost about $16 a bottle.

https://i.imgur.com/gxK4JNh.jpg

Our weekday workhorse wine is Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel, great quality at a bargain price.

Seems like fountain pen geeks might also value good wine. Maybe we should start a wine thread.

Fine, I like good californian Zin's.

Enjoy
Jens

Cheers! I see your selections are all red. Phew!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/ed...cf46a60a2b.jpg

White zinfandel is plonk: sweet, syrupy, cloying.

There are quite a few small-batch single vineyard zin producers in northern California. We bought a half-case of Hawley old vine zin a while ago: outstanding.

The oldest patches were planted by Italian immigrants who put their wine in gallon jugs, mostly for family and friends rather than for sale. Some of those vines, if they're still producing, are very old indeed. The older the vine, the less fruit it yields, but the flavor is said to be more concentrated and refined.

In France, Old Vines (Vieilles Vignes) is set by law to mean older than 35 years.

"Zinfandel vines are believed to have first arrived in California with prospectors moving west during the Gold Rush of the early- to mid-19th century. Some of the vines planted during this period survive to this day. But the remainder of the 44,446 acres of Zinfandel vines planted in the state are made up of vines that have been replanted over time — and can still be considered old, though they might be closer to 50 than 100 years of age — as well younger, more bountiful vines.

To this day, there are no official figures outlining the percentages of different ages of Zinfandel vines planted in California.

To help avoid confusion, many wineries that are famously associated with old-vine Zinfandel have sections on their websites outlining the age of their vines, and often a backstory describing how they came to acquire the plot."

https://vinepair.com/articles/what-i...ine-zinfandel/