Why Zinfandel

Zinfandel is a great wine tasting experience, because of its diversity of styles. Most of today’s Zins are produced from grapes picked at the optimum balance of sugar and acid to yield wines with 13–14% alcohol. Extended skin contact during fermentation and aging in fine oak barrels generally produces wines with an intensely fruity character, plus the balance and complexity expected of fine wines. Light, spicy, berry- flavored red wines are produced from less mature red Zinfandel grapes that receive little or no barrel aging. Bigger, rounder, richer Zinfandels contain alcohol in the 14–15% range and are normally produced from very ripe to slightly overripe grapes. These wines are full of jammy extract in both bouquet and flavor. Late Harvest Zinfandel is produced from very overripe grapes, yielding unusually concentrated wines with an alcohol content of over 15–17%, sometimes with noticeable residual sugar. Learn more about Zinfandel here.