Ep 591: Grape Mini Series - The Zinfandel Refresh

After 14 years, I felt like it was probably time to do another show on Zinfandel! Known as America's heritage grape, the story of the quest for its European origins is like a mystery novel with an interesting end. It is a great grape and so historic! Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons In this show I cover the massive history of the grape and the unbelievable decades-long search for its origins, which were finally discovered after a dogged group of researchers did a painstaking investigation. I move on to discuss the vineyard and winemaking. Much of the information I got was from one of the kings of Zinfandel in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, Fred Peterson of Peterson Winery. Fred started his career in wine working under the very famed Paul Draper at Ridge, before starting his own winery. Fred has been making Zinfandel for more than 50 years. His estate vineyard is outside his front door and has Zin in it. He sources from other vineyards, and makes low intervention, excellent Zinfandel in different styles. I share all the wisdom I got from my conversation with him, including the stylistic differences in winemaking and vineyard management and how that shows up in the wine. Check out Peterson Winery! After discussing the grape and cellar, I talk about flavors, styles and where the grape is grown. I end with a disucssion of serving temperatures, aging, and food pairing (Zin is so versatile!). You can call it Zinfandel, Primitivo, Tribidrag, Pribidrag, or Crjenak Kaštelanski, but whatever the name, I wish more people were into Zinfandel. It's such a storied and truly great grape. Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today! _______________________________________________________________ Check out my sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year! To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to:

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Ep 591: Grape Mini Series - The Zinfandel Refresh is an episode from Wine for Normal People by Wine for Normal People.

This episode is 53:48 long.

This episode was published on Jan 14, 2026.

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