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White Zinfandel

White Zinfandel

The accidental stepchild now rules the zinfandel roost

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Gus Clemens
Dec 29, 2021
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White Zinfandel
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White Zinfandel

Wine snobs roll their eyes in disdain, but for one in ten wine drinkers, white zinfandel—the winemaker’s mistake that proved golden—is their wine of choice.

Sutter Home and Beringer are leading white zin sellers. White zin comes in many different types. Some are made from zinfandel grapes alone, others include zinfandel blended with chardonnay or chenin blanc. There are even sparkling white zins.

Sweet, soft, low in alcohol, inexpensive, white zinfandel accounts for 10 percent of wine sold by volume in the U.S. Typically, the larger 1.5 l bottles outsell the same wine in 750 ml bottles.

White zin didn’t start out a star. It began as the stepchild of quality zin, then advanced further when a winemaker made a mistake.

Sutter Home winery

Sutter Home plays the key role. A producer of premium zinfandel in the early 1970s, Sutter Home often drained off some juice prior to fermentation to increase the impact of grape skins on the remaining wine.

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