On the Zinfandel Trail

Before Cabernet Sauvignon ruled California, there was Zinfandel, says Mira Advani Honeycutt, California's original, heritage wine grape

- Mira Advani Honeycutt

Deep-hued and robust yet soulful, lush on the palate, ringing with a brambly compote of plums and blackberries, heightened with surprising hints of licorice, peppercorns and spice, Zinfandel was California’s original heritage wine grape.

Wait a minute. Why is Zin a California or American grape? Most popular vitis vinifera plants in the US came from specific parts of Europe — Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux, Pinot Noir from Burgundy and so on. Zinfandel on the other hand didn’t arrive in the 19th century with any origin story.

In the mid-1800s, the Gold Rush era saw many German and Italian immigrants flocking to northern California. They brought along vine cuttings. Early plantings of Zinfandel were often done in the form of a field blend, with smaller quantities of varieties such as Alicante Bouschet, Carignane and Petite Sirah.

But where did Zin come from? Many wine historians believed the colourful Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy brought Zinfandel cuttings to the US in the mid-19th century and planted them at the Buena Vista winery in Sonoma, California.

Grgich Hills Estate’s vineyard in Napa Valley’s Calistoga AVA dating back to 1889 planted to 21.5 acres of Zinfandel of which 2.5 acres are on original St George rootstock.

One of the chief detectives was Croatianborn Mike “Miljenko” Grgich, the late legendary winemaker and founder of Napa Valley’s esteemed Grgich Hills Estate winery established in 1977. When Grgich first arrived in Napa in 1958, he went to work at Souverain Vineyards where he noticed the Zinfandel vines. The berries, canes and leaves looked familiar, reminiscent of his father’s vineyard in Desne; they resembled the Plavac Mali grapevines. He was convinced that the California Zinfandel was the same variety as the Croatian Plavac Mali. Grgich knew that Croatians had owned vineyards in California from the 1850s, so someone could have brought the cuttings during that time.