Jammy, soft, peppery, spicy, big, bold, intense, and instant gratification are all descriptors that have at one time or another been used to characterize Zinfandel. The quintessential barbecue wine, long claimed by California as the state’s heritage grape, Zin comes in a multitude of flavours and styles. When Prohibition kicked in 1920, Zin was actually the most widely planted varietal in the state.
Maybe it’s something in the water … but, of late, I have been bombarded with devices that promise to make my wine taste better, faster, rounder, smoother, less acidic. In this age of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, it seems we can’t sit around waiting the necessary years for those tannin-laden Cabernets and Barolos to soften up.
