# Zinfandel is red



## Giovannino (Oct 11, 2011)

Up until yesterday morning I thought Zinfandel was a sweet white grape. But NOT, according to Wikipedia.

Boy was I wrong.


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## Rocky (Oct 11, 2011)

Yes, actually when left on the skins, it is a very deep red wine. "White Zinfandel" is made by pressing the grapes and separating the juice from the skins for fermentation. I have made an awful lot of Zinfandel and blends of Zinfandel with Muscat over the years.


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## robie (Oct 11, 2011)

Zin makes a nice rose', too. Actually, a white Zin is pretty much a very lite rose', depending on how you make your rose'.

From 15 gallons of must, I made 3 gallons of rose' and 7.5 gallons of red Zin.

After crushing, I left the juice for rose' on the skins for about 5 hours. The resulting rose' is a beautiful red-red color. Looks like candy! It is in mlf right now, maybe ready to taste test in another 6 months.


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## ibglowin (Oct 11, 2011)

There is the old saying that "real friends don't let friends drink white zin"!


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## robie (Oct 11, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> There is the old saying that "real friends don't let friends drink white zin"!



Yep, hard to believe it is the most popular type of wine in America.


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## robie (Oct 11, 2011)

Giovannino said:


> Up until yesterday morning I thought Zinfandel was a sweet white grape. But NOT, according to Wikipedia.
> 
> Boy was I wrong.



Did you finally try a red Zin or just hear about them? Red Zin is my wife's favorite; we drink lots of it.


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## Rocky (Oct 11, 2011)

robie said:


> Yep, hard to believe it is the most popular type of wine in America.



Robie, are you saying _Zinfandel_ or _White Zinfandel _is the most popular type of wine in America?


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## joea132 (Oct 11, 2011)

robie said:


> Did you finally try a red Zin or just hear about them? Red Zin is my wife's favorite; we drink lots of it.



For a good Zinfandel, I suggest 7 Deadly Zins or Earthquake Zinfandel. Both are Lodi grapes made by Michael David and both are incredibly good! Earthquake is harder to find than the first and will set you back almost $30. 7 Deadly Zins is about $17 if I remember correctly.


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## robie (Oct 11, 2011)

Bogle and Tera D' Oro both make a great red Zin. My favorite is Predator Zin; very heavy, house toast oak included.


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## robie (Oct 11, 2011)

Rocky said:


> Robie, are you saying _Zinfandel_ or _White Zinfandel _is the most popular type of wine in America?



I read a few days ago that sweet blush Zin is the most popular in America. I never drink it, myself. My Zin rose' will be dry.


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## Giovannino (Oct 13, 2011)

robie said:


> Did you finally try a red Zin or just hear about them? Red Zin is my wife's favorite; we drink lots of it.




Thank everyone for taking time to respond.

No - just heard about them. The story goes like this. 

I spent a lot of years in Europe and to be honest, never heard of Zin, whether black, white or rose - it could be I never paid attention. I don't know when it became popular here in Canada but in '02 or thereabouts, my sister brought out a white or rose Zinfandel but it wasn't to my liking - ever since, it was in the 'wrong' column.

Then a couple of days ago I was reading one of the catalogues and something jumped out at me so, I checked it in Wikipedia - the rest is history.

Any recommendation on a kit from Winexpert or RJSpagnol?


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## sevenal (Oct 13, 2011)

*Rocky*

Can one actually extrapolate two vintages from one must.
Is that possible with muscadine must?
The roughly 18 or more gallons currently in my primary will soon be ready to go to the secondary.
I am guessing now would be the best time to consider such a thing? 

Curious


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## ffemt128 (Oct 13, 2011)

sevenal said:


> Can one actually extrapolate two vintages from one must.
> Is that possible with muscadine must?
> The roughly 18 or more gallons currently in my primary will soon be ready to go to the secondary.
> I am guessing now would be the best time to consider such a thing?
> ...



If you have already fermented on the skins you can not end up with a blush/white muscadine. Generally from my understanding, a white zinfandel is a red grape crushed but not fermented on the skins thus eliminating the red color. I'm sure others will offer their knowledge on this subject.


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## BigBend (Oct 13, 2011)

My Dago Red is made with Zinfandel grapes. It is fermented WITH the skins and is VERY dark red. Also very good tasting!


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## robie (Oct 13, 2011)

ffemt128 said:


> If you have already fermented on the skins you can not end up with a blush/white muscadine. Generally from my understanding, a white zinfandel is a red grape crushed but not fermented on the skins thus eliminating the red color. I'm sure others will offer their knowledge on this subject.



There are several different ways to make a rose'.
To make a typical rose', crush the grapes and let the juice set on the skins for several hours. Check color every hour or so. When you think the color is about right, press off or strain off the amount of juice you want for the rose'. Leave the rest of the juice on ALL the skins, including the skins from the rose'. The extra skins on the red will help make it richer.

For my Zin rose', I left the juice on the skins for about 5 hours. It is a nice bright red, a deeper red than a typical blush wine's off-red color.


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## davewaz (Oct 17, 2011)

Red Zin is my favorite wine and I have tried 100's of variety's over the last few years. My favorite is from Campus Oaks, typically priced around $15-18. Great jammy, spicy flavor, with a mouthfeel to die for. Rosenblaum also makes a few nice zins in the 10-15 dollar range.


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## JohnT (Oct 18, 2011)

robie said:


> Zin makes a nice rose', too. Actually, a white Zin is pretty much a very lite rose', depending on how you make your rose'.
> 
> From 15 gallons of must, I made 3 gallons of rose' and 7.5 gallons of red Zin.
> 
> After crushing, I left the juice for rose' on the skins for about 5 hours. The resulting rose' is a beautiful red-red color. Looks like candy! It is in mlf right now, maybe ready to taste test in another 6 months.



OK... Bring out the soap box fellas!

Zinfandel is a red grape. There is no such thing as a white zin grape. I get to explain this to a number of folks every year. 

The Zinfandel grape produces a complex red wine with highly prized characteristics. There is just one issue... Red Zin normally takes 4-6 years to mature. In light of this, some wineries took to producing "White Zin" which is ALWAYS a rose and never pure white. The process of immediate pressing of the red zin grape will always allow some of the color pigments to "get through" producing a pink rose wine. 

The advantage to the winery is that, instead of aging red zin for 4-6 years, they can produce a rose and send it to market in eight months thus avoiding aging, inventory, and carrying costs. In other words, the winery owners view their winery as a buisness where they convert their grapes into cash faster. In most all cases, roses' are rooted in greed with a complete disreguard for the art of wine.

I know that tastes differ, and that the wineries would not make a rose if nobody purchased it (usually to those that know nothing about wine), but for me it is an abomination. 

When told "I like white zin", I always ask "how much do you know about wine"? The answer (90% of the time) is "Not Much".

Lets take a stand! How about "Occupy Napa" where we all protest against corporate greed in the making of Rose! (LOL)

... You can have your soapbox back ...


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## ibglowin (Oct 18, 2011)




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## JohnT (Oct 18, 2011)

Here Here! I need to get me one of those. I will put it right beside my "Friends don't let Friends drink Bud" bumper sticker.


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## Giovannino (Oct 18, 2011)

Well said John.

I have realised that the reason I was not aware of Zinfindel is because in Europe it is NOT known as Zinfindel. Like Shiraz is known as Syrah.


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