In a perfect world, we would not be drinking livestock wine from Australia, which gets by on its cute labels and not its quality. Instead, we would be drinking zinfandel, which is not only made better in California than anywhere else in the world, but which is a great value and quite food friendly.
Zinfandel is not the sweetish pink stuff called white zinfandel, but a sturdy red wine made from the zinfandel grape (which is grown pretty much only in California). There are many reasons why zinfandel is under-appreciated in this country — the confusion with white zinfandel and that Americans have been trained to drink wine made with French-style grapes, to name a couple — but they’re all lousy reasons.
Zinfandels offer a berry, fruit-forward flavor that pairs with everything from roast chicken to spaghetti to barbecue to smelly cheeses. Yes, they can be a bit manly, but they still don’t have the off-putting ashiness of so many inexpensive shirazes. Best yet, there are plenty of everyday, drinkable zinfandels available for $10 or less, from well-known producers such as Cline, Ravenswood and Rancho Zabaco. The best zinfandels (my favorite is Ridge, but Rosenblum does a nice job, too) are fine wines, just like anything made with cabernet or chardonnay.
Next time, instead of drinking yet another Aussie shiraz, consider the following:
• Estancia Paso Robles Zinfandel 2002 ($10). A well-made, yet inexpensive, wine with a pleasantly jammy flavor. This is a good introduction to zinfandel.
• Schuetz-Oles “So Zin” 2001 ($11). Another value, a highly concentrated wine with lots of berry flavors. Like most zinfandels, it’s high in alcohol, which helps give it its sturdiness.
• Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel 2003 ($16). The Seghesios are one of those four-generation California wine families that are slowly disappearing, thanks to skyrocketing land prices and winery consolidation. This wine shows how much they have learned in the past 110 years, with its spiciness and black berry flavors.
