Australian Wine from
Alternative Grape Varieties

Zinfandel Wine in Australia


This is a mid season red wine variety capable of making a range of wine styles.

...deep ruby, blackberry, peppery...

These are some of the adjectives used for this variety on De Long's Wine Grape Varietal Table

Debate and discussion about its origin has raged over the past few years, but it is now established that the Californian Zinfandel is genetically identical to the Italian variety Primitivo and the obscure Croatian variety Crljenak Kastelanski. The last named has the oldest provenance so in some ways can be regarded as the correct name. How Zin and Primitivo got to their current homes is still an open topic.

Zinfandel has a reputation for being difficult to manage in the vineyard, and it is not user friendly in the winery either, so it seems that wine producers either love it or hate it.

It is prone to uneven ripening even within individual bunches, see the image at right, which presents dilemmas at vintage time. Some winemakers, such as Rick Glastonbury at Kabminye in the Barossa Valley see this as an advantage, allowing wine to be made with complex palate showing a range of ripe and ripening fruit flavours.

This variety is popular in California where it makes all manner of wines, perhaps the best is the rugged dry reds where finesse is not an issue. Most popular is 'white Zin' which is a sweetish pink style that gets short shrift from most serious wine critics.

Some enthusiastic Californian winemakers give it careful treatment including several picking passes and attentive work in the winery followed by oak aging to produce wines of some distinction.

In Australia, Cape Mentelle at Margaret River and Nepenthe in the Adelaide Hills were the first to establish a reputation for producing good Zinfandel wines, but they now have plenty of competitors. It is fair to say that wines from this variety in Australia are a work in progress, but most producers seem to be aiming at a robust red style rather than the sometimes insipid "White Zin" beverage.

Some Australian Wineries using Zin/Primitivo are

  • Arimia Margaret River Margaret River
  • Audrey Wilkinson Hunter Valley
  • Barrecas Geographe
  • Buckshot Vineyard Heathcote
  • Calais Estate Hunter Valley
  • Cape Horn Vineyard Goulburn Valley
  • Cape Mentelle Margaret River
  • Cargo Road Wines Orange
  • Chapman Valley Wines Central Western Australian Zone
  • Chittering Valley Winery Perth Hills
  • De Bortoli Riverina
  • Donnybrook Estate Geographe
  • Elderton Barossa Valley
  • Glaymond Wines Barossa Valley
  • Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
  • Hanging Rock Winery Macedon Ranges
  • Hently Farm Wines Barossa Valley
  • Hotham Ridge Winery Peel
  • Inghams Skilly Ridge Wines Clare Valley
  • Irvine Eden Valley
  • Jarrah Ridge Winery Perth Hills
  • jb Wines Barossa Valley
  • Kabminye Wines Barossa Valley
  • Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale
  • Karanto Vineyards Langhorne Creek
  • Kingston Estate Riverland
  • Lethbridge Wines Geelong
  • Lilac Hill Estate Swan Valley
  • Lion Mill Winery Perth Hills
  • Longview Vineyard Adelaide Hills
  • Lowe Family Wines Mudgee
  • Mandalay Road Geographe
  • Mansfield Wines Mudgee
  • Marschall Groom Cellars Barossa
  • McAdams Lane Geelong
  • Murray Street Vineyard Barossa Valley
  • Nepenthe Adelaide Hills
  • O'Regan Creek Vineyard and Winery Queensland Coastal
  • Old Caves Granite Belt
  • Olssens of Watervale Clare Valley
  • Peel Estate Peel
  • Pepper Tree Wines Hunter Valley
  • Petersons Glenesk Estate Mudgee
  • Phillips Estate Pemberton
  • Piggs Peake Winery Hunter Valley
  • Rigel Wines Mornington Peninsula
  • Riverbank Estate Swan Valley
  • Robinvale Wines Murray Darling
  • Romavilla Roma
  • Rusden Wines Barossa Valley
  • Rusticana Langhorne Creek
  • Rutherglen Estates Rutherglen
  • Sanguine Estate Heathcote
  • Schulz Vignerons Barossa Valley
  • Smallwater Estate Geographe
  • Smidge Wines Langhorne Creek
  • Stellar Ridge Margaret River
  • Stratherne Vale Estate Central Western Australian Zone
  • Sutherlands Creek Vineyard Geelong
  • Tempus Two Hunter Valley
  • Tim Adams Clare Valley
  • Tscharke Barossa Valley
  • Uleybury Wines Adelaide Zone
  • Vincognita McLaren Vale
  • Virage Margaret River
  • Wandoo Farm Central Western Australian Zone
  • Wilson Vineyard Clare Valley
  • Wise Wine Margaret River
  • Wood Park King Valley
  • Wordsworth Wines Geographe
  • Yokain Vineyard Estate Geographe
  • Zonte's Footstep Langhorne Creek

Food Pairing Ideas for Zinfandel

Zinfandel red wines are often robust and have moderate to high alcohol. Thus they can be combined with all sorts of barbecued meats.

They will also stand up well with spicy Asian dishes, say steak with capsicums and black bean sauce.

You might even try Zinfandel with game meats, say wild boar, hare or grilled kangaroo fillets.

More food pairing ideas for zinfandel at the Albarino to Zinfandel website.

Zinfandel at the AAVWS

Sixteen Zinfandel wines were entered at the 2008 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. Seven were awarded medals:
2 Golds, Rusticana 2007 Zinfandel from Langhorne Creek and Grove Estate 2007 from Hilltops
One Silver, Dorrien Estate Individual Vineyard Series Barossa Valley Zinfandel 2007
Four Bronzes, Groom Barossa Valley Bush Block Zinfandel 2007, Irvine Zinfandel Reserve 2005 from the Barossa Valley, Tempus Two Pewter Zinfandel from the Hunter Valley and Tscharke the Curse Zinfandel 2007

Find these wines and compare prices




Albarino to Zinfandel
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