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NWO Golf Links
KURT WIENEKE
GOLFERS AND WINE HAVE ALWAYS
gone
together. In fact several professional golfers,
Greg Norman, Ernie Els, David Frost and
Cristie Kerr, all have their own label and are
active wine aficionados.
One of my favorite wines of all time is
Zinfandel. Yes, I’m talking real Zinfandel -
the red version. My first inspiration with this
grape was the 1987 Gallo Zinfandel, a wine
that had a concentration and complexity
unimaginable for a grocery store wine. Well,
probably not hard to imagine given that ’87
was a great vintage and that the wine was
reared by the venerable Julio Gallo, a master
technician in the cellar.
Zinfandel can be charmingly quaffable
when sipped on its own, because of its
wild raspberry profile, but it can also be
the ultimate match for barbequed ribs, aged
cheeses, Italian dishes, or even salmon. Why
do I like ‘zin’ so much? That’s easy - it’s an
incredibly fruity and versatile wine.
Zinfandel (thegrape)wasbrought toCalifornia
in the late 1800’s by Italian immigrants, who
planted vines near their homestead as the
source for their ‘house reds’. Most of these
Italian settlers were home winemakers,
having learned how to make table wine at
home from their fathers or grandfathers.
Some of the original Zinfandel vines planted
in California in the 1890’s and early 1900’s
are still producing today and yield a prized
commodity known as ‘old vine zin’. Most
of these old vine Zinfandel vineyards are in
Sonoma County, but some can be found as
far north as Mendocino County and others
as far south as Lodi.
Like other fine wines, Zinfandel projects
different characteristics depending on the
region or appellation where it is grown. Here
is a sampler on the main regions:
Dry Creek Valley
– The epicenter of great
Zinfandel. The hallmark of Dry Creek zins is
their deep cherry flavors with a slight hint of
tar or asphalt.
REAL ZINFANDEL