My discovery of Zinfandel, and more specifically its role in California’s old-vine field blends, came late in my wine education. The word ‘discovery,’ of course, is an overstatement; I had tasted Zinfandel before and associated a very specific set of characteristics with it: big, high-octane, low to medium quality - or sweet and pink. I thought this description was also well-supported by my own research; I had sampled many of the grape’s defining wines and found those views to be fairly accurate. But this was different...
