Follow Zinfandel’s long journey to California

In the wine world, it’s a common refrain — take an obscure, underappreciated grape from its ancestral Old World home, dare to replant it in a nurturing New World wine region, and within a century or so, it becomes synonymous with its new locale.

The grape that would eventually become Zinfandel in California actually originated near the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, as a little-known variety called Crljenak Kastelanski. DNA testing done about a decade ago confirms this grape as an exact match to Zinfandel. From Croatia, vine cuttings were transported to Vienna and then to the Eastern U.S. circa 1820, where it acquired the Zinfandel name (confused with an Austrian variety called Zierfandler). By the 1840s the first Zinfandel wines were being made in California. After its initial success, however, Zinfandel was hindered by Prohibition during the 20th century and it wasn’t really until the 1970s that it began to attract serious attention.

Today, California “Zin,” as it is affectionately called, is third most widely produced grape variety after Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon in the state. The majority of Zin made is, of course, White Zinfandel — the pleasingly sweet pink blush wine made from the red Zinfandel grape. Take a drive through the vast tract of commercial vineyard space that is the San Joaquin Valley and you will see just how important White Zin is to the California wine industry and its biggest brands.

However, the best Zinfandel grapes from the choicest old-vine vineyard sites are destined to be made into great red wine. Red Zin typically produces full-bodied dry wines with heady black fruit and complex flavors. The wines often display subtle regional differences too, due to the different micro-climates, exposures and soil-types in the vineyards.

There are many great appellations in California producing excellent Zinfandel, including Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Amador and the Sierra Foothills. Here’s a short list of solid bottlings to look for in Southwest Florida:

In the Sierra Foothills, Fiddletown Cellars makes their single-vineyard Fiddletown Cellars Jack Rabbit Flats Zinfandel ($30), sourced from 95-year-old vines and aged in new French oak barrels. It offers compact, mouth-filling black raspberry fruit and toasty pain grille notes. The regular Fiddletown Cellars Old Vine Zinfandel ($19) delivers similar intensity with hints of black currants on a more rounded frame.

For nearly 50 years, legendary winemaker Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards has been a reference point for great Zinfandel in northern California. Long a proponent of single-vineyard wines, today Paul and his talented team at Ridge produce 16 different bottlings from some of the most revered plots in the state.

Two of the most iconic wines are Ridge Geyserville ($38) and Ridge Lytton Springs ($37).

Located in Alexander Valley, Geyserville is an old field-blend vineyard planted to Zinfandel and small parcels of Carignan, Petit Sirah and Mataro. Remarkably some of the Zin vines are more than 130 years old and still bearing fruit. Also tipping past the century mark are the 100-plus-year-old vines of the Lytton Springs vineyard in Dry Creek Valley.

These Ridge wines are outstanding expressions of their terroir and approachable in their youth. Yet both have considerable track records for longevity and improvement in the cellar.

Jim Greeley is ABC Fine Wine & Spirits’ wine supervisor for Southwest Florida. Follow him on Twitter @abcwinejimg. He blogs regularly at winecountry.abcfws.com. Reach him at jamesg@abcfws.com.