Wine of the Week: Federalist 2016 Zinfandel

Wine of the Week:

2016 Zinfandel from @federalistwines, made in Lodi, California.

This lushly fruit-forward Zinfandel is dry without sacrificing smoothness and fruity without overdoing the sweetness. I paired it with pizza and couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy it in future tastings. The sweetness of the homemade tomato marinara juxtaposed with the richness of sauteed mushrooms and grilled tomatoes complimented the wine perfectly. The bitter-sweet characteristics of the fresh basil toppings mixed well with the similarly bitter-sweet notes of this Zinfandel. Additionally, a buttery aspect was brought out in the pizza’s crust when sipped alongside this red.

With ripe plum and blackberry elements on both nose and tongue, this Zinfandel immediately brought me back to a period of my childhood spent eating homegrown plums and blackberries by the handful in the height of summer in my Oregon backyard (in which both plum trees and a blackberry bush grew fervently). The label points out both of these fruit elements, but I’ll further include that it’s not a grocery-store level plum that presents itself, but rather the pure, juice-dribbling richness of a freshly-picked plum still warm from the day’s sunshine. If you’ve never experienced this bold intensity in a plum, this wine can surely give one an idea. It’s rich, unadulterated, and robust.

This Zinfandel makes for a spectacular dinner companion when paired with hearty Italian-influenced flavors. Highly tannic, enjoyably dry, and lavishly jammy, The Federalist’s 2016 Zinfandel is entirely delectable. It’s not dry to the extent that one’s mouth feels parched, but just enough to warm up the throat and leave a lingering finish on the tongue that can bring out the subtleties of an accompanying meal. After emailing this winery, a customer representative quickly (within the hour!) confirmed that all of their wines are vegan as they “do not use any animal products in the production of The Federalist wines.”

Price

Retails for $18.99 @worldmarket, bought on sale for a subtotal of $11.85.

ABV

14.5%

Meal pairing

Homemade gourmet pizza with my mom’s vegan mozzarella and various fresh-vegetable toppings.

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Fun Fact

Through DNA testing, the Zinfandel grape varietal was discovered to be biologically linked to both ancient Croatian Crljenak Kastelanski grape varietals and rare Italian Primitivo grape varietals despite some flavor and vine disparities when compared. Mysteriously introduced as vine cuttings in the 1820s, Zinfandels are American as a wine, but, in terms of grape plants, have a genetic ancestry that has been more directly traced to Croatia. The name fully originates from 1830’s America, however, when a Boston winery coined the term in an advertisement. Zinfandels are usually robust, complex, hearty, and rich in black and red fruit flavors to a jammy, almost pie-filling quality, with spicy, oaky, and herbal undertones additionally appearing in some. Often dry, tannic, and high in alcohol, blackberry, plum, raspberry, cherry, black pepper, and chocolate are a selection of some of the flavors one might experience when tasting a standard red Zinfandel wine and thereby pairs well with dense and complex meals.