For a long time, California prided itself on having its own grape variety, Zinfandel, unlike the rest of the New World. However, there have always been legends and myths about the origin and creation of this variety, which read almost like a crime novel. Not long ago, using the genetic "fingerprint" method of DNA analysis, Zinfandel was traced back to southern Italy's Primitivo, suggesting that this variety may have come to California with Italian immigrants. From there, a trail initially mistakenly led to Plavac Mali in Croatia. But after this was revealed to be a natural cross, the forefather of Zinfandel was finally determined, after many complicated analyses: the Tribidrag grape variety, which is also based in Croatia. This adventurous research trip went down in wine history as “Zinquest”. Today, Zinfandel is one of Kailfornia's flagship wines, producing over 20,000 hectares. It matures medium to late and loves soils with good drainage. Its main problem is the varying ripeness of the berries on a single cluster. Without careful selection, the wine can easily take on green, grassy or peppery notes. Zinfandel is available from simple and simply structured wines to absolute premium wines, such as those from Ridge Winery. A Californian specialty is “Blush”, a semi-dry rosé made from Zinfandel.
