I also remember selling a ton of Zin to Baker and Banker in SF before they had kids and still sell a lot to Terrapin Creek on the coast. I haven’t seen much decrease in popularity. I think what you may be seeing is that the more trendy restaurants these days are often non-european or non-cali cuisine. Just look at the Eater SF Hottest list. Zin doesn’t pair as well with sushi or ramen. Maybe better with Moroccan but by all means enjoy that Czech Chardonnay if you feel the need. I’d find it hard to believe that hipsters don’t like Bedrock too.
I get it. We only drink a couple zins a year. I find them very difficult to pair with the food we make. We don’t eat alot of grilled red meat and the red meat we do have goes best with medium bodied or aged reds. I’ll have to poll my coworkers who like wine. I would think that most “normies” who drink supermarket cabs would like Zins, so no idea why its not popular with them.
It wasn’t that long ago that Constellation paid $285mm for The Prisoner portfolio which the lead wine was a Cali field blend dominated by Zinfandel. The hipsters may hate The Prisoner (as do I generally) but Constellation must’ve thought a whole lot of other people loved it!
Edit: $285mm not $265mm. Off by $20mm!!!
Agree
No one on this thread has offered any hard statistics to support the notion that Zinfandel has lost popularity. Or has become cyclical.
Phil Jones
I had some hipster Zinfandel the other day too. It was different but I liked it.
Pet Nat Zin?
Hipster central:
From All Day Baby’s (Silverlake) website:
BROC CELLARS ‘VINE STARR’
Zinfandel • Sonoma County, CA 2018
M. Georgina DTLA:
2018 Bedrock Esola 98
I buy a lot of zin annually and open more bottles of zin than any other varietal each year. There may be excess grapes on the market due to good growing years and increased competition between wineries.
Nope, still wine with searing acidity.
Interesting. Guessing natural wine that didn’t go through ML cause it was high malic/very low pH and high ABV?
I went to Alinea (a 3 Michelin star restaurant in Chicago) last year and the very young somm (probaby an assistant) poured a Turley Zin as part of a wine pairing. The pairing was awful and I asked if he has ever heard of Broc Cellars, which produces a very hipster-style Zin that is light bodied and lower alcohol. He said that the dish was originally pairred with the Broc Zin…and then they ran out and switched to a vanilla bomb which did not pair well at all.
I like Zin when it’s made in a style (like Broc or Briceland) that is lower alcohol. But I have relatively little tolerance for any wine that might be described as “jammy”.
Was at a dinner party on Saturday and brought a 2017 Turley Dupratt Zin. None were really into wine much but I knew it’d pair well with grilled tri-tip. I poured some for everyone and their eyes lit up in enjoyment. A couple of them picked up the bottle to read the label and said “oh, red zinfandel. This stuff is amazing?!!!” This was in Northern California mind you in the heart of wine and Zin Country.
The wine was very delicious and well worth the $38. Wish I had bought more on allocation!!!
It seems to me that Zins from certain producers are really hot. I am thinking of Ridge, Nalle, Turley, Bedrock, Carlisle, Scherrer and a few others. But there doesn’t seem to be much of a market for the less famous. You don’t see much of it on wine lists.
Zin is hard to make well because the grapes ripen unevenly and often at high sugars. Primitivo, a sibling of Zin, ripens at lower sugars and more evenly.
Another issue is this: a grower in Napa/Sonoma can plant cab etc and get 3X for the grapes or plant Zin and get 1.5X…hmm…Ehren Jordan told me he planted zin in Napa because he doesn’t think there will be any for sale. All the people with zin will make their own.
I agree Zinfandel is difficult to get a bead on with respect to when to harvest. If it is harvested too early there is little reward in the marketplace and none with critics.
The stylistic divergence (ripeness level and blending with other varieties) is a great source of confusion regarding the utility of the variety as well as aging/development potential.
Well, I know at least two winemakers who think that picking Zin early just doesn’t suit the fruit. It doesn’t develop until really ripe, they claim.
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Recently bought a case of 2016 Hartford Highwire Zinfandel, based on stellar reviews (Vinous, WA, Cellartracker). Just about every time I’ve had a zinfandel, I ask myself–how come I don’t have more of this stuff.
I’ve been trying to find a Zin that I like ever since I started drinking wine. I try it with some regularity and outside of a few things that fall into the category of “would never put this record on, but if it came on the radio I wouldn’t change the station” like the Ridge blends I just find Zin to be too “turned up to 11” for me, even Turley, Carlisle and Bedrock, and most people my age that I drink with feel similarly. I think if it really does have swings in popularity it is down to the fact that it doesn’t really ever talk in an inside voice even when made by the lightest producers out there (disclaimer: i haven’t had Broc or the VdC carbonic Zin yet so i may be in for a surprise). I think it might just be one of the few grapes I just don’t like no matter where it’s made or by whom (Gewurztraminer is another).
I’d suggest giving Nalle a try for an inside voice zin.
Cool, I’ll keep an eye out!