Old Vine (not just) Zinfandel

There are a few select areas around the world graced with gnarly old vines, planted in the nineteenth century and still producing wine. These vines are special because they produce exceptionally concentrated wine (albeit in small quantities) and because they are a direct, physical connection with the distant past. Ironically, it's the so-called New World that has rich plantings of old vines, particularly in phylloxera-free parts of Australia and also here in California, where nineteenth-century vines have survived the twin ravages of phylloxera and Prohibition.

I visited Ridge's property in northern Sonoma County, on the border between Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley, where there are vines planted in the early 1900s after phylloxera struck California in the 1890s. There are even some vines from the 1880s planted to the St. George rootstock by canny growers who were learning from France, where the devastating effects of phylloxera were countered by grafting vines to American rootstock. Walking through the vineyards made me realise how connected we are to the past, as some of the practices of the nineteenth century still hold true today, and how winemakers and growers from around the world have always learnt from one other.

the passing of time

 

 

1990s Carignan vine, with a higher-trained canopy

old vine, with a lower-trained canopy

The Ridge vineyards have many old vines with thick, wrinkled trunks, growing in different, maverick directions, determined to do their own thing after many years growing, yet disciplined in the quality of grapes they produce. These are interspersed with thin, seemingly weedy vines that are easy to train but produce fruity, upfront, almost undisciplined wines. These young vines have been planted to replace the old vines that one by one die. The contrast between the young and old vines was stark, but with time one will grow into the other. Ridge are intensely interested in preserving California's wine culture, but also in building on it. The younger vines are trained higher than the older ones, so that the canopy can be better controlled, but still without trellises which are almost uniform now across California (with the exception of Syrah, which has wildly productive canopies).

zinfandel, and other varieties

Old Vine Zinfandel is the most famous style of wine in California which connects the state's rich winemaking culture with today's drinkers. Rightly so, because old Zinfandel vines produce wines with much more concentration of flavours than young vines which result in fruity, somewhat simple wines. But on Ridge's property, there are over 20 other grape varieties planted, some of the vines dating back to the nineteenth century. Zinfandel is at its best as the main part of a blend, and those other grape varieties add what Zinfandel can sometimes lack according to the site: colour, acidity, or tannins.

These other varieties include Petite Sirah, which was planted far more than I was expecting in Ridge's vineyards, providing colour and tannin, as well as two other much-maligned grape varieties. Carignan is often dismissed as a high-yielding, low-quality grape, but old Carignan (spelt Carignane by Ridge as it was in California in the nineteenth century) can produce intense, concentrated wines, and it can also add acidity to a blend. Alicante Bouschet is dismissed even more often, planted during Prohibition to give colour to home winemakers' amateur efforts. Not only do Ridge have old Alicante Bouschet, they're still planting it now - for its historic importance in California as well as the colour it adds to a wine.

blending and field blends

Mataro, or Mourvèdre as it's known in France

In the nineteenth century, all those grape varieties were often planted together in the same vineyard without any particular rhyme or reason. Or at least, so it can seem. I walked through the vineyards with Ridge's viticulturist Will Thomas, who explained that the winery had conducted experiments to see if co-fermenting the field blends was better than fermenting the different varieties separately. The field blends won. Turns out those nineteenth-century European immigrants knew what they were doing, and now Ridge are deliberately planting some of their vineyards as field blends.

old-vine Pinot Noir

Having said which, there was one old vine, planted in 1901, in the middle of all those warm climate varieties. Its canopy was far more developed, aggressively so, and the grapes ripen more quickly than the vines around it. Will had conducted quite a bit of research to learn which variety it was: unexpected answer, Pinot Noir. There must be few older Pinot Noir vines in the world, and here it was planted entirely in the wrong place.

This on-going learning experience is now focused on two newly-planted rows with over twenty varieties, arranged in alphabetical order from Alicante Bouschet to Zinfandel. These vines have been planted to see how the different varieties perform in the same conditions. It was incredible to walk down the rows and see how the canopies are larger with some varieties (Syrah); others have noticeably waxy leaves (Grenache Gris); while others grow firmly upright (Mataro, or Mourvèdre).

old-vine Syrah

The most intriguing of all these field blend vineyards was one planted to Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Peloursin. Petite Sirah, also called Durif after its creator, is a crossing of Syrah and Peloursin, an extremely tannic grape. Here was a vineyard that had the mother, father, and child all growing together: in California, where vines were only first planted two hundred years ago.

Christmas Drinking

I'm back in the UK for Christmas, where enough rain has fallen to alleviate California's drought for the next ten years. I've met up with friends and family, indulged in a number of pub lunches by blazing log fires, and had plenty of good wine to celebrate. With the rich, hearty food I've been eating, I've been looking for wines with plenty of acidity to give a refreshing lightness. The other aim has been simply to drink memorable wines. 

Eyrie Melon de Bourgogne 2009

I bought this wine on a trip to Oregon two and a half years ago, and because of its uniqueness I have been saving it for a special occasion - which turned out to be by a fire in a cottage in the Lake District while playing Bananagrams with my wife and sister. Back in 1965, David Lett, one of the founding fathers of Oregon wine, planted Alsace and Burgundy varieties in the Willamette Valley, including Pinot Blanc. Some of the cuttings he bought from UC Davis, but upon planting them he realised that they weren't Pinot Blanc at all, eventually concluding that they were Melon de Bourgogne, which is grown only on the Atlantic Coast of the Loire Valley (Chalone in Monterrey encountered the same problem with Pinot Blanc cuttings they bought from the university). With just a small plot of this unfashionable and undistinguished variety, Lett never made a commercial wine from them. After his death in 2008, his son Jason decided to make wine from the plot - now over forty years old - in tribute to his father. The wine is superb, rare proof that old-vine Melon takes on more substantial and complex characteristics than is generally associated with the grape. It's nutty and yeasty, with rich stone and tropical fruits, enlivened by an acidity that's still fresh six years after the vintage. I feel this wine will still be drinking well in another ten years. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Château Musar 2003

A legendary wine from Lebanon, known for its volatile acidity and great ageing potential. I was delighted to find it on a pub wine list for just £45. Made from a unique combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, and Cinsault, the twelve-year-old wine maintains its freshness from its almost aggressive acidity - for a red wine at least - gripping tannins, and black fruits, alongside mature aromas of dried fruits. It's a wonderfully appealing, individual wine on its own; perfect also with the roe deer, lamb, and duck dishes we enjoyed on a wet wintery night. ✪✪✪✪✪

Ioppa Ghemme 2004

This was the wine we had on Christmas Day to accompany the turkey. Ghemme is in northern Piemonte, where the wine is made mainly from Nebbiolo, making it a good-value alternative to the better known Barolo and Barbaresco. It's a little bit different from those famous areas, as the climate is cooler and the Vespolina grape is added (in this case 15%) to soften Nebbiolo's aggressive tannins. Age had also mellowed this wine, but the tannins were still firm, the acidity lively, with fresh red fruits: a perfect accompaniment to the rich turkey dish with roast and mashed potatoes. ✪✪✪✪✪

Muga Rioja Reserva 2009

Muga are a producer who merge the best of traditional Rioja and more modern trends. A mixture of old and new, French and American, oak is used to age the wines, retaining that slightly reductive funk one associates with old-fashioned Rioja while adding an oaky spiciness more contemporary drinkers are used to. This would also have been perfect with turkey, but we drank it by the fire while opening presents. It's light and supple enough to drink on its own, with that unexpected power and depth that Rioja at its best offers. ✪✪✪✪✪

Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

One of the best value wines in California (at £30/$50), as the grapes come from the Monte Bello vineyard which produces the state's greatest Cabernet-based wine. I had hoped to age this wine longer, and even at six years old it was a little young, with its intense, firm, drying tannins. But it's still a beautiful, delicious, and quietly magnificent wine, with ripe black fruits evocative of California's sunny climate. We were also a little drunk by the time we opened this wine, at the end of Christmas Day. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

A Ridge Pilgrimage

Since moving to California, I've made lots of new discoveries but just as excitingly I've visited wineries I'd grown to love back in the UK, especially Tablas Creek in Paso Robles and Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara. This week I finally made it to another iconic California winery, Ridge. Based south of San Francisco, Ridge are most famous for their Monte Bello - one of the world's greatest Cabernet Sauvignon blends - but also make wines rich in California heritage from old Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Carignan vines (just to emphasise their attachment to California's history, Ridge continue to spell it Carignane).

pilgrimage

Visiting Ridge's property near Cupertino/San José really felt like a pilgrimage. The winery is at the top of a steep mountain, reached by a long, narrow road full of hairpin bends that takes twenty minutes to drive up. Wild, isolated, and nearly 900m high, rattlesnakes slide through the grass, vines work the hard, rocky soil, and the views of Silicon Valley reveal a different side of California's culture.

history

The Monte Bello property dates back to 1882, but its modern history started in 1959 when three Stanford graduates made wine from Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in the 1940s - still the basis of the Monte Bello Cabernet. They were joined by another Stanford graduate, Paul Draper, as winemaker in 1968, whose winemaking philosophy involved as little interference as possible. As well as Cabernet Sauvignon, since the 1960s Ridge have made Zinfandel planted on the property in the 1890s as well as more old-vine Zinfandel from Geyserville and Lytton Springs north in Sonoma County.

The 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet was one of the California wines featured in the 1976 Judgment of Paris, the American wine that organiser Steven Spurrier thought most likely to win. Although it did not do so, the more professional 2006 reenactment of the tasting featuring the same wines saw the wine unanimously come top.

zinfandel

I love Ridge's range of Zinfandels - probably the best in California - most of them single-vineyard wines from old vines. They represent an older side of California far removed from the modern style of winemaking that has emerged, particularly in Napa. Ridge call their winemaking "pre-industrial," making wines that have as little chemical or technological influence as possible, as they would have been made in the nineteenth century. This is certainly reflected in the Zinfandels; there is a raw, rustic quality to the wines, with fruits ripe but wild, tasting like they have just been picked off the ground. The tannins are dry and gripping, rather than overripe, giving the wines a structure not always found in other juicy, alcoholic Zins. And each Ridge Zinfandel is quite different, representative of the climate and soils of the vineyard. To add further to the individual character, the Zinfandels are most often a blend, changing each year, using other historic grapes such as Carignan, Petite Sirah, and Mataro (an old California and Australian name for Mourvèdre) to structure the fruity tendencies of Zinfandel.

wines tasted

2013 Estate Chardonnay ($50)

Although Ridge are known for their red wines, they also make a small amount of Chardonnay. For the estate wine, the grapes are grown lower down the hillside. The wine goes through full malolactic fermentation and is aged in oak (most of it used and American) and is aged on its lees, giving the wine rich, full flavours of butter, yoghurt, and dill, but there's a pleasing floral elegance to the wine as well as integrated ripe apple, lemon, and pineapple fruits. ✪✪✪✪

2007 Monte Bello Chardonnay ($85)

In exceptional years, Chardonnay is made from the Monte Bello vineyard (otherwise the grapes go into the Estate Chardonnay). This was a magnificent, mature wine, its slightly oxidised sherry aromas gradually subsiding as the wine opened up. The wine still had a rich, full creaminess to it, but with a nutty maturity added to the floral aromas. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

2013 Geyserville ($38)

As Zinfandel should be, this wine is aged in American oak (20% new) and is a blend of several different grapes just like the wines of the nineteenth century would have been: 73% Zinfandel, 17% Carignan, 9% Petite Sirah, and that all-important 1% Mataro. All the grapes come from old vines on the same three vineyards planted on a 30ha site. Dusty, dry, chewy tannins give a defining structure to the fruity black plums, cherries, and berries. ✪✪✪✪✪

2012 Merlot ($50)

Serious Merlot is becoming all too rare in California, so it was pleasing to taste this wine. The cool vineyards on the mountain lend the wine firm, gripping tannins, rather than the ripe, lush tannins often associated with Merlot. Beyond the tannins, there are ripe blackberries and blackcurrants, and subtle floral, herbal aromas. ✪✪✪✪✪

2012 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($50)

This is one of my favourite, good-value Cabernets (good value by California standards). Equivalent to a Bordeaux second wine, the grapes still come from the hillside vineyards, not quite good enough for the Monte Bello - which still means pretty damn good. The 2012 is still young, with the tannins a little too aggressive and drying. It needs at least another five years, when the tannins will have softened and integrated with the intense black fruits and floral aromas. ✪✪✪✪✪

2011 Monte Bello ($165)

The cooler 2011 vintage makes this more approachable than young Monte Bello often is. The tannins are a little softer, allowing a more immediate appreciation of the floral, herbal aromas on the nose and the balanced black fruits on the palate. The Monte Bello (the 2011 is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc) is one of California's most distinctive high-end wines. Aged in American oak, with a tender alcohol level of 12.8%, nothing quite compares to the delicate yet substantial, complex layers of flavours that the high-elevation vineyard produces. ✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

All this may seem like unthinking, gushing praise for the winery. After all, that's why one embarks on a pilgrimage: to give worship. Not all of Ridge's wines are without fault (while I was visiting, I had to explain why I didn't like the Buchignani Carignane that much) and I think they make a few too many Zinfandels (16). However, the overall standard of Ridge's wines are exceptional and the commitment to land and quality beyond reproach. Their best Zinfandels (particularly the Lytton Springs) are the finest California has to offer and the Monte Bello is one of the three greatest American Cabernets I have tasted. On top of a mountain overlooking the madding modernity of Silicon Valley and far, far from Napa, there is nowhere quite like Ridge.

Zinfandel

Zinfandel is the all-American grape: big, bold, and brash. Up-front and fruity, it has nothing to hide and everything to say. It's high in alcohol (usually climbing above 15%), low in subtlety, screaming its California motto at you: "Go big or go home." All of this has made Zinfandel a very popular style of wine, its immediate flavours having an easy appeal that's hard to resist.

However, rather like Australian Shiraz, its appeal is also its downside. If you don't want a wine whose alcohol approaches the levels of fortified wine, then avoid Zinfandel. If you don't want a fruit bomb, then give Zinfandel a miss. If you want a structured, balanced wine, then don't stop at the Zinfandel shelf.

My travels around California have confirmed some of those impressions, but also challenged them. It's still nearly always high in alcohol and Zinfandel wouldn't be Zinfandel without its jammy black and blue fruits, but I've discovered plenty of serious wines with structure, depth, and ageability. Maybe because I've come to the wines quite fresh, I've often preferred Napa Zins to Cab Sabs - they're certainly more affordable.

where's it from?

The world came crashing in on the all-American grape in the 1990s when genetic fingerprinting proved that Zinfandel was the same grape as obscure, rustic Primitivo - rather like an American tycoon learning that they were descended from poor Italian immigrants...

It is, of course, impossible for Zinfandel to be an indigeneous American grape - all wine-producing vines are part of the vitis vinifera species which originates from Europe. Although Zinfandel was only known in California, it had to have come from Europe at some point. There are various theories about its origin, but the likelihood is that it was imported from Vienna by one George Gibbs late in the 1820s, making its way to California during the Gold Rush as Zinfandal. The grape itself doesn't originate from Italy, however, but Croatia. There's also a strong chance that Primitivo was imported into Italy by Italians returning home from California.

For all its genetic controversy, Zinfandel is now very much its own grape, grown in California for a hundred and fifty years, with nineteenth-century plantings still in use. During that time it's been soaked in California sunshine, reflecting the dry, dusty Californian terroir as well as time's changing fashions. 

Zinfandel in véraison, Calistoga

what does it taste like?

Due to its hardiness and popularity, Zinfandel is grown in areas that are too hot because it can cope with that heat and is overproduced because it has no problem providing high yields. That's where the image of Zinfandel as jammy and obvious comes from. The high alcohol has risen as the trend for rich, alcoholic wines has grown, although, as with other styles of wine in California, levels of alcohol are beginning to settle.

Whatever the style of Zinfandel, the black and blue fruits should be immediate, but serious examples of Zinfandel use American oak for up to two years, giving the wine real structure and balance, as well as adding a peppery spiciness.

There is also a phenomenon called White Zinfandel, which has further damaged the reputation of the grape if not producers' finances. Bob Trinchero of Sutter Home in Napa launched White Zinfandel in the 1970s and saw sales mushroom in the 80s; this resulted in increased plantings of the grape, which is one positive outcome. White Zinfandel is pink, sweet, and a tiny bit fizzy.

wines

Without doubt the greatest producer of Zinfandel in California is Ridge. Although they are based in Santa Cruz, their finest Zinfandels come from Lytton Springs and Geyserville in northern Sonoma. The best Napa and Sonoma Zinfandels come from high altitude areas that are hot during the day but cool at night, allowing the grape to ripen at a slow, steady pace. I haven't visited Ridge yet, but the Lytton Springs is one my favourite Californian wines, arguably besting even their own famous Cabernets. It's a great example of a big, powerful, unabashed wine that is still classically balanced. Here are some of the many Zinfandels I've tasted over the last two months.

Saddleback Old Vine Zinfandel 2012 ($40)

Most of the grapes for this wine are grown in hot Calistoga, the best area of the Napa Valley for Zinfandel. Like the rest of Saddleback's wines, this is a serious, oaky, tannic wine, but softened by the Zinfandel fruits (plums and blueberries). The only Saddleback red to be aged in American oak, the wine has distinct vanilla, chocolate, and coconut aromas, and is very spicy on the mouth with pepper and liquorice. Still young, with plenty of ageing potential.

Regusci Zinfandel 2010 ($60)

Regusci are the only winery in Stags Leap AVA to plant their own Zinfandel - there just isn't enough money compared to Cabernet Sauvignon to justify planting the grape in the heart of Napa Valley. The intensity of the wine is quite different from those grown at higher altitudes: besides the black and blue fruits, the nose is toasty, oaky, and peppery, with a spicy, dusty palate - it's the dust that marks it out as from the lower reaches of the valley.

Nichelini Reserve Zinfandel 2010 ($41)

Nichelini, Chiles Valley

Yet another old Italian family still using original plantings of the vine - the family have been making wine in the same spot since the 1890s, including through Prohibition. Nichelini are based high in Chiles Valley, where altitude again affects the character of the wine. This Zinfandel is not shy: from 2010, when an unexpected heat spike overripened the grapes, the wine comes to a whopping 16.1% ABV. It's big, spicy, and alcoholic: the pepper, liquorice, and alcohol leave the tongue burning. It may mellow out after a few years, but even after four it's a bit too much. Nichelini also make a Primitivo, which is a bit more mellow (although it was from the cooler 2011 vintage), its fruits more chocolatey; an interesting comparison.

Seghesio Rockpile Zinfandel 2012 ($38) & Home Ranch Zinfandel 2012 ($58)

Seghesio are a Sonoma producer who have made their name growing Italian grape varieties - they also make wines from Arneis, Vermentino, Barbera, Sangiovese, Aglianco, and Petite Sirah (a French grape known in France as Durif but often grown in California by Italian immigrants). Zinfandel was first planted by founder Edoardo Seghesio in 1895 on the Home Ranch vineyard, plantings which are still used today. Besides Home Ranch, Seghesio make several Zinfandels, all from vineyards throughout Sonoma County. My favourite is the Rockpile, from a small AVA where the vines must be above the fog level, attracting intense sunshine during the day but subject to cool nights - perfect for Zinfandel. It's a stony, floral wine, with subtle fruits on the nose; on the palate, it's more aggressive and oaky, with drying, slightly bitter tannins. Seghesio's premium wine, from the original Home Ranch vineyard, is serious, almost like a Cabernet Sauvignon on the nose. The palate is concentrated and complex, juicy, oaky, and spicy, with a particularly peppery finish.

Joseph Swan Stellwagen Zinfandel 2008 ($30)

Although Russian River Valley is best known for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, it produces intense Zinfandels from select slopes. Joseph Swan make several single-vineyards Zins. The last ever vintage from the Stellwagen vineyard, this is a fruity, savoury wine, with vanilla, anise, and roses and violets adding a refined elegance.

When visiting the Joseph Swan winery, I couldn't resist buying one of their Zinfandels from 2001, for just $35. This is the first mature Zinfandel I've tasted: the rich black fruits were there, but were more dried and overladen with leather and game. Although Joseph Swan wines are unusual and generally come into their own with a bit of age, this was proof that Zinfandel is ageworthy, and not just a young, fruity wine to be drunk straightaway.

I've been tasting Zinfandel throughout my visits to different California wineries - more than any grape, it grows successfully in most areas. I've already reviewed the following wines on previous blogs from Laura Michael, Lone Madrone, and Pomar Junction.

From being somewhat sceptical of Zinfandel upon my arrival in California, I now look forward to tasting each winery's style and I'm disappointed if one isn't made. It's produced in different ways, from fruity and fun to oaky and serious, and you're never quite sure what you're going to get. As ever in California, terroir is key: it's at its best in high areas with significant variations in temperature from day to night, and it reflects the dusty intensity of California's summer heat. Zinfandel has so won me over as an expression of California, that the Saddleback Zin is going to feature at my wedding next week alongside Chardonnay and Rioja. I can think of no greater compliment than that.