Oz describes the Zinfandel grape as "the heart and soul of American winemaking" and you could actually tell the story of American winemaking through this single variety. The variety, until recently of obscure origins, found its way from the Northeast of the US to the West Coast, just like many emigrants to California, just before the Gold Rush era of the mid-19th century. Zinfandel has survived the Depression and, even worse for the grape, the Prohibition era, by cleverly re-branding itself as a sacramental wine. On its home turf, Zinfandel is well known and very popular, populist, even. It's widely planted and comparatively affordable - an everyday drinking wine, but one with plenty of flavour and character. It's not, however, a wine for wine snobs. Oz says, "We went to a trendy bar in San Francisco and expected them all to be drinking Zinfandel, but it was all Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which was quite a surprise." Wine factFor many years it was believed that the origin of the Zinfandel grape was southern Italy and a grape called Primitivo. It was only in 2001 that its true origins were conclusively found to lie in the Dalmation coast of Croatia, after years of arduous research. Zinfandel and food Zinfandel can be made in a range of styles, from simple, raspberry-charged styles, to high-alcohol, tannic wines with obvious oak influence. Fortunately, Californian winemakers are these days making less headache-inducing styles and concentrating on Zinfandel's inherent palate-pleasing fruitiness. You can find good examples of Zinfandel in most high street wine merchants for under a tenner. Enjoy them with simple, straightforward dishes or with Mediterranean influenced foods. RecipesZinfandel is a versatile and easy-on-the-palate wine. Try it with dishes as diverse as these:
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