I love a lot of grapes (duh! I have a wine blog?!), and one of those varietals is Zinfandel. I’m pretty sure my true appreciation for this varietal came about in 2012 when my friend Kate and I went to ZAP’s Zin Fest in San Francisco. ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) Zin Fest is an event where 50-200 wineries (there were over 100 the first year we went) pour only Zinfandel. Do you like your Zin jammy or spicy they would ask? I don’t know?! I didn’t even know there was a difference! There is honestly no way to sort out your palette more than to go to an event like this trying only one varietal from multiple producers and then asking when you find a glass like, is this considered jammy or spicy? Because, at the end of the day it is about you learning and knowing what you like and your palette. The only issue is that you pay a flat fee to get in, so it is very VERY easy to get completely wasted and then either love EVERYTHING by the end or have complete palette fatigue where everything tastes like crap because your tasted buds are honestly just over it as well as your sobriety level. There are a bunch of people there to just get hammered, so you have to be prepared for that, or you can play to join them! Haha!
It is at events like this where you can find boutique wineries with incredible wine at a great price point. You can discover which regions of California you like better. Do you like Sonoma Zins, Paso Robles Zins, Napa? All of them?! Warning, liking all regions just the same is very possible! For the smaller wineries, the wine maker is often there and/or the owner of the winery. I love this because it gives you a real since about whether or not you would like to visit the winery.
One of my favorite memories from the three times I have gone to this event (I wasn’t able to attend while I was living abroad), is meeting a wine maker from a small winery who was trying to sort out which blend he wanted to bottle, so he was taking a survey. It was fun to give my very uneducated opinion and see what ended up in the bottle.
This is not an ad, I’m getting nothing for letting you know about this event. I just think whether your experienced or new, it is a great way to learn about yourself and learn more. My biggest piece of advice if you attend is go to all the names you don’t know. The names of wineries you haven’t see the bottle of in your wine shop or wine store. Not only will the line be shorter, you’ll get more 1:1 attention and knowledge and you’ll be able find the truly unique and rare stuff.
This year they are calling it Zin Ex (Zin experience – marketing eye roll), and it is from 30 Jan 2020 to 01 Feb 2020. I want to go, but both my niece and grandma have birthdays to celebrate that week, so family obligations might keep me from going. If I do go, I’ll definitely update this post and I’ll announce it. I’d love to meet up with any of you and share our thoughts!
