Why does white zin taste like strawberries if red zin doesn't? Do they add flavoring?

WINE TALK
1

A 1655 ballad famously said “Many a true word has been spoken in jest.” So how about asked as a question? The famous mag of white zin, when I actually tasted it, had a pronounced strawberry flavor. Unmistakable. What is it about the process of making the wine that causes it to taste like strawberries when I find no such flavor in red zin. Is it, as a sommelier at a low level restaurant once said to me when she looked at my BYO bottle, “Oh, I’ve never had zinfandel made from red grapes. I like the kind made from white grapes.”

2

You couldn’t resist a 3rd thread for one stinking bottle of White Zin, eh? neener

3

Someone may correct me on this but I think it is the lack of extraction and skin contact that keeps the flavor in the strawberry camp. Then again most Zinfandels on the market are blended with Petite Sirah at minimum.

4

Methyl butyrate
Ethyl butyrate
Methyl hexanoate
Ethyl hexanoate
linalool
2-methyl butanoic acid
4-Methoxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone
and 30+ other compounds that may or may not be significant

If they’re not there naturally, you can buy a custom blend.

RT

5

I would guess Bob is right – all the other stuff you get from more extended skin contact may just mask a strawberry element. Also, the white zin will get much less age, probably in stainless steel, so perhaps that keeps some delicate flavors that would be lost with barrel aging.

But what do I know.

6

Picked earlier, cool fermentation.

-Al

7

Pronounced strawberry flavor isn’t limited to white Zin. Rosé often exhibits strong strawberry flavor so it is clear they don’t need to add flavor.

8

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. One of our fellow Berserkers suggested that I start a thread on the use of a Coravin to prolong the drinkability of a mag of white zin. I also want to start a poll, “What is the bigger sin - - serving white zin or Coors Light?”

9

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(counting the tasting note) champagne.gif

Would a Coravin work on a mag of white zin? [wink.gif]

10

You could never get the needle through the plastic cork or Stelvin closure.

11

I don’t think most white zinfandels use any zinfindel grapes.

12

Jay, let it go. It’ll be alright. I promise.

The men in the white suits are getting the straitjacket ready for you. [tease.gif]

13

If by “work on” you mean “explode,” apparently yes! pileon

14

I made a zinfandel just as my first home winemaking just-for-fun effort in the 2012 vintage. I picked much earlier than a commercial producer (22.5 Brix), and used very little oak (French oak cubes added into the carboy, but a small amount relative to what is typical for homemade red wine).

The wine has a definite flavor of fresh strawberries to it. I’m guessing the berry profile probably changes and darkens as the Brix gets higher.

More broadly, I think most varietal roses have a different flavor profile than their red wine counterparts. Many of them taste like watermelon, for example, though really no red wines taste like watermelon.

15

I think you’re right that the fruit profile darkens at higher Brix. I also suspect your smaller volume ferment didn’t get very warm. Higher temperatures tend to blow off some of the more delicate aromas.

-Al

16

I’m guessing that it’s more related to physiological ripening rather than sugar development (brix). It may also be related to the maceration time as a number of roses are saignée (although these times tend to move away from watermelon and sometimes past strawberries) .

17

I find strawberry aromas and flavors very rarely in Zins but I do remember a Winters Winery Zinfandel (forgot the vintage) from the mid 80’s that had wonderful strawberry notes on the nose and some on the palate.

18

As has been said, I think the biggest factors are less ripe grapes and cool fermentation.

19

Most Zinfandels you have drank were likely picked at a very high level of ripeness and also blended with dark grapes like petite Syrah. When you don’t blend anything with it and pick at lower ripeness levels even red Zinfandel can have red fruit characteristics.

Beyond that grapes meant for rose are picked at even lower ripeness levels and fermented at cooler temperatures which produces more tutti fruity esters.