by Sharon Kapnick

Joel Peterson’s appreciation of wine started at a young age. When he was just 10, he began tasting wine with the San Francisco Wine Sampling Club, which his dad founded. (Peterson’s elder son started making wine with him at age five, after visiting Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, one of the most prestigious vineyards in the world.) While still a teenager, Peterson was already knowledgeable about important European vineyards and vintages. After graduating from college, he wrote about wine.

Although many consider Zinfandel to be the quintessential American grape, it originated in Croatia, where it’s called Crljenak Kastelanski (“black grape of Kastel”). But it thrives in California, where it’s been grown since the 19th century, and is considered the state’s heritage grape. A significant number of old vines — which produce high-quality grapes and concentrated and complex wines — are still around. Some of those used in Ravenswood wines date back to before 1900.

Before Prohibition, Zinfandel was California’s most widely planted grape; today it’s the state’s second most planted red wine grape (with much of the production used for white Zinfandel). But Zinfandel has seen many ups and downs in popularity. When Peterson started making Zins in the mid-70s, the varietal was disdained. He’s one of the winemakers who brought acceptance and esteem to the grape.

Ravenswood’s famed slogan is “No Wimpy Wines” — embrace the bold and abhor the bland. Yet Peterson’s Zinfandels, though full flavored, are quite versatile and can be turned to year-round, for they complement burgers (including cheeseburgers), ribs and other barbecued and grilled food, pizza, turkey (think Thanksgiving), duck, steak, lamb and other roasted red meats, venison and other game, sausages, spicy meat dishes — including Southwestern, Mexican, Indian and Pakistani — and some rich, sharp, strong or creamy cheeses, including cheddar and blues (Stilton, Gorgonzola, etc.).

Vintage Note: California Zinfandels have recently have several very good vintages, but 2007 is perhaps the best.

Ravenswood Vintners Blend 2007: Aromas and flavors of raspberries, blueberries and black cherries. This fruity wine — a classic Italian-California field blend of Zinfandel (84%), Carignane and Petite Sirah with a splash of black grapes — has supple tannins and is quite food friendly. At a suggested retail price of $9.99 ($7.95 at www.wine-searcher.com*), Vintners Blend is Ravenswood’s entry-level Zinfandel.

Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2007: Aromas and flavors of plums, blueberries, blackberries and spice. This combination of Zinfandel (76%) and Petite Sirah is well balanced, lush and intense. The Lodi Old Vine is quite a bargain, usually just a few dollars more than the Vintners Blend, with a suggested retail price of $13.99 ($9.99 at www.wine-searcher.com*). The Lodi region of California is known for good-value Zinfandels. Because Lodi doesn’t have the prestige of Napa and Sonoma, wines made from Lodi grapes also don’t have the high prices of Napa and Sonoma wines.

*Note: The website prices are the lowest prices for these wines at www.wine-searcher.com at the time of writing. I don’t endorse or recommend the particular online outlets, although I do recommendwww.wine-searcher.com.

Ravenswood also produces several very good-to-excellent single-vineyard-designate Zinfandels (below). See its website, www.ravenswoodwinery.com, for reviews and to learn more about them:

Zinfandel Alexander Valley Big River

Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Teldeschi

Zinfandel Napa Valley Dickerson

Zinfandel Russian River Valley Belloni

Zinfandel Sonoma Valley Barricia

Zinfandel Sonoma Valley Old Hill

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