Glenn McGourty, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Mendocino County, predicted 2012 will be a wonderful vintage in the North Coast wine region, reported the Ukiah Daily Journal.

"We kind of wish every year could be like that. There was enough water, practically no frost protection needed, and no mold, mildew or rot on the fruit," he said. McGourty told reporter Justine Frederickson he usually finds growers to be pessimistic when they begin harvest, but that wasn't the case in 2012. "I even saw one of them break into a smile," he said.

This winter, the grapevines have been enjoying a much-deserved slumber, particularly with the recent cold snap.

"They like it," McGourty said of the frigid temperatures, adding that the prolonged cold weather in the Ukiah Valley the first half of January is not likely to cause damage.

"The vines are pretty tough," McGourty said. "They can take a lot of cold, and they can go underwater for weeks (without problems), unless there's any foliage."

A quest to find the best zinfandel clones began in the early 1990s, wrote Ann Hanami of the Napa Valley Wine Examiner. UC Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist James Wolpert was getting feedback from winemakers about the poor quality of the four available commercial zinfandel clones from the Central Valley, whose main characteristics were high-yield, large berries and poor varietal character.

Wolpert went on a California “safari” to find old-vine selections that had evolved uniquely over time on their own home turf. With support of Association of Zinfandel Advocates & Producers and the American Vineyard Association, UC Davis created the Zinfandel Heritage Vineyard in 1995, the article said, to record, study and preserve distinctive zinfandel clones which they collected from 50 notable old-vine vineyards in 14 counties throughout California. (The Zinfandel Heritage Vineyard website says the vineyard was established in 1989.)

The heritage vineyard helps the industry find answers to some of the mysteries surrounding zinfandel and preserves the special qualities of the old vines for future generations. The vineyard is of historical and viticultural interest, and represents a resource for future plantings of zinfandel with a broad range of selections.

Wine enthusiasts are taking note of a recent study by UC Davis agricultural economist Julian Alston and his colleagues that said the amount of alcohol in wine isn't always stated accurately on the label.

The San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant blog, "The Inside Scoop SF," reported on the study, which said that nearly 60 percent of wines under reported their alcohol, while just 10 percent reported accurately. Overall, alcohol levels were under reported by a mean 0.13 percentage points across the board.

Writer Jon Bonné contemplates whether winemakers are trying to bridge a divide between consumers who say they want less alcohol, but are buying wines that have more.

"I’m not sure that explains the mislabeling, which has a lot of complex components (cost savings, consumer bias, regulatory leeway) but it’s an increasingly frequent conclusion. It’s what the study’s authors concluded," Bonné wrote.

The U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported that winemakers have deliberately chosen to understate wine alcohol content for marketing purposes.

"The substantial, pervasive, systematic errors in the stated alcohol percentage of wine are consistent with a model in which winemakers perceive that consumers demand wine with a stated alcohol content that is different from the actual alcohol content, and winemakers are willing to err in the direction of providing consumers with what they want," The Guardian quoted the Alston study.

"What remains to be resolved," the study says, "is why consumers choose to pay winemakers to lie to them."

Some leading environmentalists in the wine industry are asking the federal government to allow sulfites to be added to wines labeled organic, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.

Currently, for a wine to be labeled "USDA organic," it may not contain added sulfites. The chemical occurs in small amounts naturally in wines but is considered by many vintners to be an indispensable preservative.

Sulfites arrest fermentation at the desired time, and may also be added to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of winemaking.

"It's extremely difficult to make high-quality wine without adding sulfites," the story quoted Andy Waterhouse, chair of the UC Davis department of viticulture and enology. "The smallest amount of mold on the grapes would cause the flavor to be different."

As a result, other eco-friendly wine labels, which may have weak or even no official standards, have filled the void - including biodynamic, sustainable and "natural" wine.

"Wine drinkers looking for a healthful, green product face confusing choices, and wineries can claim they're eco-friendly without anyone really checking," the story said.

Writer W. Blake Gray noted that several winemakers who are marketing USDA organic wines are campaigning to maintain the current standards.

"Most of the 8,000-year history of winemaking appears to be from naturally farmed, organically grown grapes without sulfites added," the story quoted winemaker Paul Frey.