Zinfandel

Old Vine Zinfandel

Zinfandel.  It's a red wine grape with a long tradition here in the Dry Creek Valley AVA.  Now after years of speculating just where this mystery grape came from, DNA testing has located its homeland: Croatia!  You have to admire the European farmers that lugged this vine halfway across the globe to find a perfect location to grow the best Zin.

As a part of that tradition is the unique training of the vine called "head trained."  I call it the Afro of vines.  When you visit DCV you will notice many vineyards where the vines are not neatly trimmed on wires, but rather just gnarly stumps sprouting out of the fields.  These likely will be zinfandel vines.

Just so you don't think that the old-timers were just lazy, there are reasons that this style of pruning works with this vine.  It has a lot to do with how the grapes are shaded from the Sun.  Some of these vines have been running "wild" for over a hundred years!