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Zinfandel is Reaching Cult Status
By Tim Hayes & John Koetzner

On Saturday, January 29, at Fort Mason in San Francisco, a parking space within a one- mile radius was not to be found. The "trade tasting" had two thousand attendees, and the line for the public tasting to get into the ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) tasting was four persons wide and 10 blocks long, just to taste Zinfandel wines.

When you look up "cult" in the dictionary, it is defined as "a group that devotes itself to or venerates a person, ideal, fad, etc." It appears that ZAP followers have taken the accolades for Zinfandel to a "cult" status. At this tasting you had the opportunity to sample more than 500 different wines made from the Zinfandel grape in a time frame of three hours.

That means, provided you could still stand up, if you tasted 2 different wines a minute you would only miss out on say, 100 wines. It is amazing how many Zinophiles tried to accomplish this Herculean task. On the other hand, the tasting guide did recommend spitting rather than guzzling.
While Merlot was the up and coming "trendy" wine of the 90s, it had better look over its shoulder for the onslaught of the Zinfandel wake. With its great diversity in style- soft and fruity, big and tannic, round and lush, sweet and alluring fruit - it has components that reach every style of consumer there is, and we see it beginning to reel in admirers from all over the county and from all walks of life.

To the credit of our local wineries, between Healdsburg, Geyserville, Forestville, and Santa Rosa, Sonoma County was represented by over 50 wineries pouring Zinfandels at the ZAP tasting from all over California.
If you did not have the opportunity to attend the collective gathering and pay homage to Zinfandel, some of the wines you should not miss from our area are Alderbrook's 1998 OVOC, Chateau Souverain's 1998 Winemaker Zinfandel, Everett Ridge's 1998 Dry Creek Valley, Hanna's 1997 Bismark Ranch, Kendall-Jackson's 1998 Grand Reserve, Pedroncelli's 1998 Mother Clone, Pezzi King's 1997 Estate Grown Dry Creek Valley, and Seghesio's 1998 Old. Of course, there are plenty of other great Zins in the area, which makes for an interesting tasting tour to consider.

Besides local winery representation, Healdsburg had three eateries represented at ZAP. They were local luminaries Charcuterie, Zin, and the Oakville Grocery. All did an excellent job of pairing food with Zinfandels.
Feeling like you missed out? If you have web access, you can find information on the web about ZAP in several places, but it also has its own website located at www.zinfandel.org. There, you can find out what the organization is doing to promote this varietal that America calls its own.

While ZAP is composed of 225 producers and about 5,500 advocates for the grape, it is moving forward into the 21st Century by establishing a number of ways that it is present in the world of wine. It has scheduled tastings across the country and it has summer activities planned in our own back yard as part of its ongoing celebration in 2000.

Not only that, but it has created grants for research on Zinfandel, including DNA research by Professor Carole Meredith of UC Davis. ZAP also supports the continuing research done by Professor James Wolpert of UC Davis at the Heritage vineyard in Oakville, where there are ninety different selections of Zinfandel from fourteen different counties throughout California. Their fund-raising activities are directly related to providing such assistance for this viticulture exploration.

Although it may seem extreme, ZAP is also working with Senator Diane Feinstein who is sponsoring a resolution to make January 23-29, 2001, as Zinfandel Appreciation Week. Yet, their reasons sound as patriotic and noble as organizations such as the D.A.R. or the Kiwanis Club. They really want to connect America's settlement of the West with early history and acknowledge the pioneer spirit that has made Zinfandel the one varietal that is uniquely American and which embodies that American spirit.

Meanwhile, if you were not part of the fortunate horde to be at Fort Mason two weeks ago for ZAP's Zinfandel Festival, you can still start planning to get involved with some of the summer festivities. For example, there will be Zinfandel Days 2000 taking place in Northern Sonoma County July 7-9, and there will be festivities in Southern Sonoma County August 11-18. Locations have yet to be set, but ZAP prides itself in getting winemaker dinners, vineyard tours, food and wine pairings, access to wineries that are normally closed to the public and other perks for its members during these types of events.

Stay tuned in early summer for more commentary on what to expect in tasting Zinfandels - red ones that is - when we talk with some of the folks who locally volunteer and wineries that locally participate in ZAP events to make them memorable.