Old Zinfandel (or "Old Zin") is a red wine made specifically from old vines that are, for the most part head trained (e..g single plants either originally attached to a post or grown up around one) versus the trellis trained that pretty much is all that goes in place any more (there are reasons for that, of course: It is easier to manage the vines and the production is more reliable year after year). In some cases, the vines can be from 40 to 80 years old.
I cannot tell you fully why I like them - I like red wine in general and zinfandels in particular. And perhaps it is just something in my head. But I like the thought of drinking wine that is pulled from vines that have been around for a while (in some cases, longer than I have) planted in the old style (again, I am becoming more and more "old style" as well.
Two of my favorites are Bogle's Old Zin and Gnarly Head Old Zin:
Do you have a favorite wine?
Sadly, I do not. We've tried wine (and champagne) a couple time, a d I always ended up with a headache, so we gave up.
ReplyDeleteGlad you can enjoy them. :-)
TB I used to LOVE the earthy reds! I even had a palate and could pick out some of the flavours like earth, oak, flowers, some fruits, etc.
ReplyDeleteI can't handle the stuff any more though; I dunno why that is. I can drink a little rot gut scotch but even the finest reds these days turn me right off. I would actually love to sit down with a glass of red the size of a gold fish bowl … but age betrays me I guess.
Red wine is the beverage of heroes and warriors... which probably explains my lately-acquired aversion to it.
Learning how to make wine is on my someday list, but other than that I know little about them. I've heard of zinfandel, of course, but didn't know about old vine zin. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about heroes and warriors as a requirement, but I like Old Vine Zins also. I've had the two you posted about as well as Silk Road's. Went to Lodi in January and visited wineries. Put a couple of cases in the closet for special occasions.
ReplyDeleteLinda, many wines now have sulfites for preservation, which tend to give me a headache as well.
ReplyDeleteGlen, I have become a lot less of a wine fan over time because for a lot of them, it gives me a headache as well (all too easily).
ReplyDeleteHeh heh. Heroes and warriors indeed.
Leigh, Wine making has been on my list for years as well (sadly, it one thing that seems to get farther and farther in the rear view mirror).
ReplyDeleteI did a little bit of reading - the whole concept of "Old Vine" is (like som many other things from California) controversial. I will just ignore the controversy about how old a vine has to be and just drink.
Juvat - I have not heard of Silk Road but I will look into it. Sadly, we have to buy it by the bottle here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!