RE: [CH] (slightly) OT still on Zin..
Bloechl, Sharen Rund (sharen.rund.bloechl@lmco.com)
Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:18:48 -0700
Sorry, Zin is chiefly grown in CA but it IS grown in
* Croatia (it's home - see article from: The Zajednicar, November 20,
1996: http://www.dalmatia.net/croatia/wine/zinfa.htm) , excerpt: "
"This is the area where Zinfandel was born," says Miljenko "Mike" Grgich,
seated at the dining table in a Croatian friend's
house sipping homemade "Postup" poured from a glass pitcher. "It's the same
variety - It's Zinfandel," he says. We are in the
tiny, sunny seaside village of Trstenik on the Peljesac Peninsula about
50 miles north of Dubrovnik. Grgich, best known for the
prize-winning Chardonnays that he makes at Grgich Hills cellar in the Napa
Valley, has just built a winery here and will
produce his first Plavac Mali in the vintage of 1996.
"Mike Grgich, a native of Croatia who left in 1958, uses the word Zinfandel
interchangeably with "Mali Plavac" ( pronounced
mah-lee plah-vahts) in conversation with an American visitor. "Mali Plavac,
Plavac Mali, you can say it either way, it's
Zinfandel," he says. "People moved from here to Italy and brought it with
them," he continues, reciting a litany repeated by
other Croatian winemakers, who seem amused that they are the only ones who
have long been convinced of the common
origins of their grapes and the Zinfandel." . . .he may know what he's
talking about. . . .
* Also in Australia. . ." Zinfandel should work in the Koppamurra-the
slightly warmer climate than Coonawarra may enable us to produce a big style
similar to those from Cape Mentelle in WA and Ravenswood in the Alexander
Valley in the US." Regional report on Koppamurra, Extracted from the
November issue of the Wine Industry Journal.
* And in Spain. . .
Sharen Rund Bloechl
Lockheed Martin Enterprise Information Systems
Sunnyvale Data Center
sharen.rund.bloechl@lmco.com <mailto:sharen.rund.bloechl@lmco.com>
Phone: 408-756-5432
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----------
From: chatfield_sl@penco.com[SMTP:chatfield_sl@penco.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 6:57 AM
To: chile-heads@globalgarden.com
Subject: [CH] (slightly) OT still on Zin..
> Zinfandel IS only grown in California and it is an earthy wonderful RED
> wine!!!
and Sharen:
I agree - ZIN is a great wine with hot foods but it isn't grown only in CA -
it IS grown chiefly in CA but other states & countries do grow it AND it IS
coming back into its own
I certainly agree about pairing a full bodied red with spicy food, and I
can't
help adding something since wine is a significant area of interest in my
life
..according to some of my sources, Zinfandel, is at least 'closely related
to'
Primativo, a grape known for centuries in southern Italy (Puglia, or Apulia,
the
'heel' of the 'boot'). I quizzed a grower I know, and he stated that the
match
was not exact, so his guess is that the first Zins (brought to California in
the
1850s by Agoston Haraszthy) might have been seed and not cuttings. (Seed
grown
vines are not exact 'clones' as are cuttings, and are susceptible to other
factors which can alter the result slightly.)
Pepperoncini (small, red, the ones I had I'd call 'medium') are common in
the
south of Italy, sold all over in bundles, and the climate is very hot, the
food
heavily seasoned....i'd guess even the Romans (and Greeks who came across
the
Adriatic) enjoyed heavy reds with their spicy foods....
FWIW, I found Puglia very nice last fall, despite the fact that most
northern
Italians seem to consider the south 'less civilized...'