ZAP
Puts the Zip in Zin
It’s
no wonder that zinfandel is America’s
heritage wine. They—the grape and
the country—have much in common. Consider
the following:
With no disrespect to Native Americans,
we are a nation of immigrants, but we have
our own unique style. Zin’s roots
are in Europe, but it is cultivated almost
exclusively in the U.S. and it tastes like
no other wine out there.
We are misunderstood and
underappreciated in the community of nations.
In the world of wine, zin is loved (and
hated) for its bold, peppery, alcoholic
qualities; and it is loved (and hated) for
the simple, sweet, light-bodied qualities
of its “white” version.
We are a kaleidoscope of
nationalities, religions and classes. Zinfandels
wines are made very dry, moderately sweet
and as syrup-like dessert wines with prices
under $6 a bottle to over $100 for wines
made from century-old vines.
To truly get a handle on
the many faces of zinfandel, wine lovers
had to schlep San Francisco every January
for the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers
Festival. Renown for it convivial atmosphere
(read: raucous), the four-day celebration
is one of the oldest, most-loved, fun wine
festivals out there. Not content to hoard
all the merriment, ZAP Fest organizers are
taking it on the road and they’re
coming to Atlanta.
ZAP Festival-Atlanta takes
place May 12 at The Piedmont Room at the
Park Tavern (the corner of Monroe Ave. and
Tenth St.). Members of the trade are welcome
from 2 to 5 p.m. (RSVP at www.zinfandel.org).
The public is invited from 6 to 8 p.m. to
taste more than 100 zinfandels from forty-plus
producers. Tickets are $45 ($50 at the door)
at www.zinfandel.org. ZAP members pay $37.
If you buy tickets through the Atlanta Wine
School website (www.atlantawineschool.com),
tickets are $43.20. Hors d’oeuvres
will be provided by Haven, Park Tavern,
Taverna Florentina, Valenza and iGourmet.com.
2007
Edmeades Zinfandel, Mendocino County, Calif.
• $20
•
Two Thumbs Up
Peppery aromas of blueberry and boysenberry.
Intense, concentrated raspberry flavors
with a berry cobbler quality spiced with
mocha and coffee. A zin lovers zin.
2005
Renwood Zinfandel, Sierra Foothills, Calif.
• $12
•
Two Thumbs Up
Pleasant aromas of cocoa and black cherry.
Easy to drink, but with a fair amount of
interesting flavors of plum, rum-soaked
raisins and cola.
2007
Ridge, Geyserville, Zinfandel/Carignane/Petite
Sirah/Mataro, Sonoma County, Calif.
• $35
• Golden Thumb Award
• Bright, black cherry
aromas with an intense smokiness. In a word,
“luscious” with bright raspberry
and cherry flavors. An underlying complex,
smoky, cinnamon, cardamom quality. A thinking
man’s zin that will improve with age.
Technically, this is not a zinfandel, as
little more than half of the juice comes
from zinfandel grapes. But it is made in
distinct zinfandel style and, by the way,
the Golden Thumb Award could have easily
gone to the Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel,
which is 100 percent zin.
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