The Wine Lover's Apprentice by Kathleen Bershad

Author:Kathleen Bershad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2018-04-16T04:00:00+00:00

These vines are believed to have been planted in the late 1800s and are part of Sonoma’s Morelli Lane Vineyard; Dutton-Goldfield Winery buys these grapes for their wine.

Traditionally, most of the grapes grown there are used for bulk wine or are shipped elsewhere for blending purposes. Even though the area has seventeen AVAs, many of them have just one or two wineries, making the bottles hard to find at wine shops. Zin first came to America in the early 1800s and migrated west with the 49ers during the gold rush. While no vines from that initial wave have survived, zinfandel vines from as far back as the 1880s are still producing small quantities of fruit.

At this point, you might be asking: What’s the deal with old vine zinfandel?

Think of grapevines as people. Babies aren’t very interesting, which changes, of course, as they age. Think about it: the oldest person in the room is often the one with the best stories to tell. And so it is with grapevines. Once planted, it takes about four years for the fruit to be mature enough to make into wine. But as the vine continues to grow, the wines gain more depth, character, and flavor with each vintage. Though there is no standard definition of an “old vine,” it is generally considered to be one that is fifty or more years old. Ancient vines are generally eighty-plus years old.

Further, zinfandel has a near monopoly on wines with old vine status. Most other grapevines hit their peak sometime between the ages of thirty and fifty, with fruit quality declining from there. Zin is one of the few varietals whose quality improves beyond these years.

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