Viticultural Information

This was the third in a series of courses to focus on the viticultural side of select wine grape varieties, with lectures examining the origins of Zinfandel; the importance, development, and selection of clones; and experiences of Zinfandel winegrowers. Speakers include UC Davis faculty, UC farm advisors, experienced California growers and winemakers as well as guests speakers from Croatia, now believed to be the home of Zinfandel.

See also listing for Zinfandel

Peter Christensen, Matthew Fidelibus, Donna Hirschfelt
Rhonda J. Smith, Paul S. Verdegaal, James A. Wolpert

The Variety Focus: Zinfandel workshop was videotaped in excellent quality by UC ANR Communication Services. These Adobe Presenter files do not require any special software to run, but please wait about 12 seconds after clicking a link for the video to begin. Controls for the slides are provided (except for Mr. Sullivan's talk, which is a stand-alone video).

"THE SEVERAL HISTORIES OF ZINFANDEL"
Charles Sullivan, a leading expert on the history of California wine, is well known for his definitive history of Zinfandel. He shares his knowledge of its history; his thoughts on the quality of the wines now being produced; observations on prices, geography and alcohol levels; and looks to the future of this remarkable grape.

“ZINFANDEL CLONES – WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?”
Dr. Deborah Golino, Cooperative Extension Specialist and Director of Foundation Plant Services, UC Davis, discusses the availability of Zinfandel clones in the United States and efforts to preserve Heritage Zinfandel selections as clean stock, and a new project— the exchange of Croatian and California Zinfandel selections between the University of California and the University of Zagreb.

“THE CALIFORNIA HERITAGE ZINFANDEL PROJECT”
Dr. James Wolpert, Viticulture Extension Specialist, Department of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis, is the project leader for the Zinfandel Heritage Vineyard project, working in concert with emeritus specialist Amand Kasimatis and UC farm advisors Rhonda Smith (Sonoma County), Glenn McGourty (Mendocino), Paul Verdegaal (San Joaquin) and Donna Hirschfelt (Amador). Selections of Zinfandel have been collected from many vineyards in 14 counties throughout California. The goals of the project include preservation of potential Zinfandel diversity and improvement of Zinfandel clones available as certified selections through Foundation Plant Services.

“THREE ZINFANDEL FIELD SELECTIONS AND THEIR WINES”
Dave Gates, Vice-President, Vineyard Operations, with Ridge Vineyards talks about their Zinfandel plantings at Geyserville and Lytton Springs in northern Sonoma County, and use of field selections from pre-Prohibition zinfandel vineyards for new plantings. Four wines will be compared - three field selections of Zinfandel along with the Zinfandel-based wine into which they are ultimately blended. He will also discuss another project that preserves and compares field selections from old Zinfandel vineyards with FPS 03 Zinfandel and FPS 03 Primitivo (and soon Crljenak kastelanski).

"RESCUING OLD CLONES OF ZINFANDEL/ ZINFANDEL: THE PHENOLICS OF OLD VINE VERSUS YOUNG VINE"
Scott McLeod has been the Director of Winegrowing at Rubicon Estate in Rutherford, Napa Valley for 14 years. The estate boasts a 151-year history with the beloved Zinfandel grape. McLeod speaks about their efforts to "rescue" two old clones of Zinfandel from Rutherford.

“THE CALIFORNIA FOOTHILLS – ZINFANDEL TERRITORY”
Donna Hirschfelt shares her experience with Zinfandel working as a UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Amador and El Dorado counties. She has established clonal Zinfandel trials with selections including those collected in the region.

"PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF ZINFANDEL IN CROATIA" (in 2 parts)
Part 1: Introduction by Carole Meredith, speaker Ivan Pejic
Part 2: Edi Maletic
The key discovery that Zinfadel was in fact identical to a Croatian black grape called Crljenak kastelanski was made by a team which includes UC Davis emeritus professor Dr. Carole Meredith and two professors from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, Dr. Ivan Pejic and Dr. Edi Maletic. Dr. Pejic explains the genetic evidence for the Croatian origin of Zinfandel/Primitivo/Crljenak Kastelanski (ZPC), the history of ZPC growth in Croatia, and his field experiments with ZPC clones on the island of Hvar. Dr. Maletic discusses the prospects of ZPC in Croatia in light of high red wine demands and government support, viticulture experience with the first ZPC plantings, and winemaking experiences with the first ZPC harvest.