I love wine. It has been good to me in so many ways. From Chardonnay (un-oaked) to a white-peppery Syrah (hello Craggy Range), there seems to be no wine I won’t touch, with the exception of one— White Zinfandel. This ranks (and that is truly pun intended) right up there with Mondavi’s “Fumé Blanc” advertising campaign that seemed like a good idea at the time, to which the idea stuck and the rest is history.

White Zin is not a grape varietal, unlike Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. It’s made in a similar way to rosé, except that the yeast dies out consuming all of the sugar, thus making the wine similar to fruit punch. And please, do not confuse Rosé (especially the dry European style) with White Zin. When only a handful (as in 2 or 3) of wineries produce this concoction, you know something is up.

Yet, what baffles me is that it still makes it onto the menus of some of the nation’s largest restaurant chains. I’m not arguing the selling of it, as everyone has the right to drink what they would like. I’m arguing the location on the menu under “wine”. Yes, technically it is wine, but dressed up so sweetly that I’d call it more of a “flavored” beverage than wine. Saying you like wine and White Zin is like someone who is a vodka lover announce they enjoy Mike’s Hard Lemonade for the vodka (I’ll take a lemon drop, thank you).

The whole process of White Zin is to be sweet, and inexpensive. There is a reason why the ingredient in White Zin, the Zinfandel grape, comes from the Central Valley. It’s due to the large berries, or the larger ratio of grape to skin. Grapes out of the central valley are large, ripe and plump. For cheap wine, it’s a winning combination.

I’m curious what your take on White Zin is? Is it a wine, or more of a hard alcohol cooler? Should it be on the “wine menu” at a restaurant or placed elsewhere?

Cheers,
Haydn

—————————-
Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.