Cracked this Zin from the archives last night for DinDin:
1. Ridge Zin Calif LyttonEstate/DryCreekVlly (15.2%; 93% Zinfandel(Primitivo)/4% Carignane/3% PetiteSirah; 42 brls; bttld Mar 09; first vintage Primitivo on its own; 12 mo.in air-dried Am.oak; Drk: 1/09-1/14-1/15: JO) 2007: Dark color w/ some bricking; some cedary/pencilly/oldZin fairly strong raspberry/blackberry/Zin classic LS/spicy rather complex still youthful lovely mature Zin nose; lightly tart/tangy some cedary/pencilly/oldZin quite spicy/Zin/raspberry/blackberry/bit peppery fairly smooth rather complex lovely fully-mature Zin flavor w/ light bit astringent tannins; very long/lingering quite LS spicy finish that mimics the flavor; a lovely fully-mature very LS /spicy Zin nose but showing a little wear&tear on the palate & showing some astringency; on the downside but still in remarkably good condition.
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More pirtlezip from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. This was an ATP release of the first crop of Primitivo from Ridge's LyttonEstate. Because Primitivo was not yet a recognized varietal name, Ridge had to label it has Zin. Ridge was one of the first to plant Primitivo imported from Apulia & cleared thru FPS. BenZeitman/KatieQuinn also had an early planting of Primitivo in the late '80's.
So the DNA indicate that Calif's Zin & Primitivo are identical varieties. I've never been able to taste or smell any difference between Zin & (authentic, from Pulia) Primitivo. However, Ben&Katie had their row of Primitivo planted next to their Zin and the vines clearly looked to be different to my untrained eye.
Back in the late '70's, when Zin was identified as Primitivo (pre-DNA confirmation), HopKiln started to label their OV Zin as Primitivo and subsequently trade-marked the Primitivo name. But the TM was eventually rescinded as not being valid to TM a varietal name (afore it was officially recognized as a varietal name). Now, most wineries who use Primitivo are careful to use it to identify Primitivo that originated from Apulia.
The same sort of confusion surrounds the Croatian variety Tribidrag. After Carole identified Croatia's Tribidrag as Zinfandel, L-M started labeling their (Calif) Zin as Tribidrag, using it as a proprietary name, making no attempt to TM the Tribidrag name. They have allowed Ridge & other wineries to use the Tribidrag name on their labels.
Much of the Tribidrag planted in Croatia is badly virus-infected. After Croatian Tribidrag was brought to the US and cleaned up by FPS/Davis, much of the virus-free Tribidrag plant material has returned to Croatia.
And, of course, there is also the whole enchanting story of White Zinfandel. WhiteZin was first made by DavidBruce & Dave Benion in the mid-'60's using saignee juice from their Zin. But the WhiteZin is often attributed to Sutter Home/BobTrinchero who made their first one in '73. At DarrellCorti's suggestion, they labeled it as Oeil de Perdrix for the first few yrs. It was, in fact, quite a nice wine. And then they trashed this wine by leaving RS in the wine. And the rest is history.
And of course, there is the famous Turley White Zin from the famed Hoot-Smalley Vnyd out behind SutterHome. The most expensive WhiteZin ever made. But, of course, that's another urban legend to be recounted another time.
Tom