The Pepper Rebellion

Zinfandel—a mysterious vine, a flirtatious wine, versatile with food and satisfying on its own. For too long, zinfandel has been the poster child for pizza, a wine regarded by critics as less than noble, a peasant primitivo good only for Tuesday night burgers, a wine lacking in chateaus, royal bloodlines and moldy caves.

In its struggle for market share, it has been overcropped and overextracted, diluted of spice, and hyped as an everyday drinker. It rarely commands the prices of even the most plebeian California merlots. So why do producers bother with it?

Zinfandel is a challenging wine to grow, to produce and to enjoy. It is an intellectual wine, layered and complex, with a fruit and spice dichotomy. It is a winemaker’s wine, full of mystery, challenge and rebellion. It is the James Dean of wine.

If you would like to join our viral rebellion, just write a brief treatise on why zinfandel is deserving of respect, or in support of its peppercorn qualities, publish it on your website, blog, or an online forum and we will list you as a member of the Pepper Rebellion.

• Well-made zinfandels will age beautifully for 7-15 years.
• Zinfandel can be dryfarmed and often produces self-limiting and balanced crops of intensely peppery fruit.
• Zinfandel has a unique flavor profile.
• Zinfandel can be amazingly layered and complex, with overtones of spice, herb, peppercorn, briar and tobacco. In the right hands, zinfandel is a complex grape, worthy of respect and attention.
• Well-made zinfandels are intellectually challenging and emotionally satisfying.
• Zinfandel, like syrah, is an excellent match for robust meats and rich sauces. Its layered flavors makes it a good match for complex dishes (unlike cabernets which require a simply prepared steak and some mashed potatoes in order to sort them out).

Why have we lost that amazing peppercorn quality in zinfandel?

1.  Some people object to that spice box character in a red wine, yet they like zinfandel’s raspberry character and sweetly lifted fruit. So they want the wines stripped of anything they might find objectionable, and producers have acquiesced.

2.  Critics assume that zinfandel is rustic and simple, perhaps confusing its peppercorn flavor with peasant stews. They require the plummy essence of syrah, the black cherry and cassis of cabernet, or the purple tannins of petit sirah. Critical pressure has encouraged the production of cabalicious zins and purple powerhouses. Zinfandel fruit should be red-hued and spicy, not black and plummy (unless it is a field blend or purposely blended with petit sirah).

3.  Zinfandel’s reputation for cheap prices, simple fruit and dried out pepper has made it the toss-away choice for simple and acidic foods. In my experience, a serious zinfandel does not pair well with tomato sauces and dishes. Pinot noir or sangiovese are much better matches for pizza. I believe zinfandel needs to be paired appropriately with food to really strut its stuff. A rich raspberry-peppercorn zinfandel with a simply prepared ribeye steak and gorgonzola mashed potatoes is a far better pairing than cabernet.

4.  I believe that the style toward uber-ripeness suppresses the black peppercorn character in zinfandel.

Cookbook author Patti Ballard once shared with me a recipe for baked French toast, with a layer of brown sugar, orange peel and Cointreau in the middle. The bread layers soak in cream and eggs overnight and the toast is baked the next morning. I love to make this pan for Christmas morning. But what makes it magical is a bowl of strawberries, chopped the night before and sprinkled with coarsely ground Tellicherry peppercorns. The strawberries thicken overnight and the berry/peppercorn sauce is insanely good with the French toast. The sauce wouldn't be the same with purple berries like blackberries or marionberries. It wouldn't work with prunes or apricots. There is a certain lightness of being, a sweet acidity, a LIFT, that makes the pepper pop. I think we need to retain that lift in zinfandel in order to produce layered zins with that interesting fruit and peppercorn dichotomy.

In Make Benefit Glorious Zinfandel, we discussed the findings of Full Glass Research, which clearly showed that core wine consumers believe that zinfandel is versatile with food, but that it is grossly under-represented on restaurant wine lists. And some of the highest spending wine consumers admit that zinfandel is versatile with food, yet refuse to serve it with an elegant meal.

Why should we allow one of our favorite varieties to languish in the margins of restaurant menus?

Join the Pepper Rebellion today. Show your support and send us a link, and we will include you as a proud member of the Pepperites.

More posts about zinfandel:

Zinfandel: King of the Gypsies

The Pepper Manifesto

A Paean Salute

A Visit with Benito Dusi

Comments

[Dr. Debs]

I'm a Pepper:

http://tinyurl.com/6q7mfx

Thanks for sticking up for Zinfandel. It gets kicked around a lot, and its about time we stopped a) saying it was an indigenous grape and b) thinking it only makes blowsy, over-ripe wine.

[Mary B.]

Excellent post on the unique qualities of Dry Creek Valley zinfandel, Dr. Debs! For those of you who have not checked out Debs' site, she is a two-time winner of the American Wine Blog Awards, and in this post she refutes critic James Laube's offhand snobbery toward zinfandel. Go get 'em, girl!

[Jill]

Oooh, this is fun. I will have to write something and join the pepper rebellion. Thanks, Mary!

[Mary B.]

Thanks, Jill! You will be valuable members of the resista'nce!

[Henry]

I have heard exciting stories about this wine and this blog made it more interesting for me. By the way, I am really happy to see this blog and your archive - thank you and keep this up!