Why No White Zinfandel?

White Zin is a style of winemaking, not an actual varietal

Before we go too much further, we just want to state that we have nothing against White Zinfandel. We’ve always believed you should drink what you like—and if that is White Zinfandel, more power to you. It’s the byproduct phrase (yes, pun intended) of Red Zinfandel that we want to clear up.

White Zinfandel & Zinfandel are made from the same grape. It’s red, spicy, and the grape happens to love Dry Creek Valley, Lodi and Paso Robles. HOWEVER, (comma) calling it Red Zinfandel is kind of like calling Tundra frozen. Zinfandel itself is red, so saying Red Zinfandel is redundant.

White Zinfandel is made from the Zinfandel grape. The lighter color (more pink than white) is simply a result of the way the wine is made post harvesting. It’s similar to the way rosé is made, whereby a red-skinned grape’s skin is soaked in the grape juice for a short amount of time

These days, you can basically count on two wineries to produce White Zinfandel—Sutter Home (the original producer) and Beringer. Lately, Trader Joe’s has gotten into the White Zinfandel market with their in-house Charles Shaw wine. And yes, the White Zinfandel is only $1.99.