Rebecca Robinson of Zap with Ray Johnson
The SSU WineSense Club was thrilled to have Rebecca Robinson, Executive Director of Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP), conduct the most recent tasting. Rebecca regaled the students with the history of ZAP and shared fascinating information about the Zinfandel grape.
Fun Facts About Zinfandel
- The grape is originally from Croatia where it is called Crljenak Kaštelanski
- Also quite famous in the Puglia region of Italy where it is known as Primativo
- Brought to America in the 1800’s
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Zinfandel Grapes
Planted throughout the Sierra Foothills, Napa, Sonoma, Lodi, Paso Robles, and many other regions
- Today more than 50,000 acres of zinfandel in the United States
- A well loved grape because of its ripe jammy berry flavors and spicy peppery notes
- Can be made into red zinfandel, white zinfandel (pink wine), zinfandel port, and sparkling zinfandel
A Tasting of Six Zinfandels
The group tasted six different Zinfandels. They were from Dry Creek Valley, Amador County, and El Dorado County AVAs plus a bonus wine from the Heritage Vineyard which was a collection of different clone tests. At the end of the tasting Rebecca quizzed the students to see who was listening the best. Three lucky students each received a bottle of wine for being so zin savvy.
When the voting took place at the end of the session, the two top favorite wines of the evening were the Turley Zinfandel from Amador County and the Miraflores Zinfandel from El Dorado County.