By Ray Spaziani
Wine Talk
Ray Spaziani
The origin of Zinfandel remained a mystery for many years. The Californians thought the grape was native to California. The Italians had a grape and made wine called Primitivo. This wine has characteristics very similar to Zinfandel. The Italians thought that the vines came from southern Italy. Articles went back and forth for some time and arguments persisted. Balkan winemakers joined the argument, saying the grape was native to their region. The issue went on for some time.
About four years ago I met a wine importer from Yugoslavia named India Bayer. We tasted her wines and they were terrific. Her company is called Wines of Illyria. She indicated the Italian and the California grapes were tested some time ago by researchers at the University of California Davis using DNA profiling. They showed Zinfandel is a clone of the Croatian varietal Crljenak. Both the Italian and the California grapes came from these.
This goes back to Roman times. The Romans took the Croatian varietal and planted it in southern Italy, where it became popular for many years. At some point in the late 19th century, Italian immigrants planted the grape in southern California. During the Great Depression, however, wines could not be produced commercially. When it became legal to produce wine, Sutter Home Winery was producing some Zinfandel. They encountered what is referred to as
a stuck fermentation. The sugar did not turn to alcohol and the wine remained sweet. They did not know what to do with it, so they bottled it as a light and sweet wine and called it “vintner’s blend.” It became known as white Zinfandel, and it sells about 500,000 cases per year today. The Zinfandel grapes became profitable to grow, and regular red Zin made a comeback as well.
I highly recommend some of the Wines of Illyria. They are available at several stores in the area, including Silverbrook Wine and Liquors in Orange. They include white unoaked wine called Zilayka and Bena and red wines Blatina, Vranac and Tmjak. See if any of these wines remind you of Zinfandel. Indira Bayer would appreciate it.
Ray Spaziani is the chapter director of the New Haven chapter of the American Wine Society. He is on the tasting panels of Winemaker Magazine and Amate del Vino and is a certified wine educator and award-winning home winemaker. Email Ray with your wine questions or activities at realestatepro1000@gmail.com.