For a long time, Zinfandel's history has been much disputed. Originally thought to be a descendant of Puglia's Primitivo in southern Italy, extensive DNA profiling by UC Davis have established that Primitivo and Zinfandel are actually offspring of Crljenak Kaštelanski, a virtually extinct variety recently identified on the Croatian island of Kaštela. Planted widely by miners turned farmers in California’s gold rush, it thrived in the warm, sunny, and dry conditions. While it grows well across most of California, some of the finest examples come from Sonoma, Paso Robles and the Sierra Foothills in particular. A good Zin should be bursting with big, ripe, jammy fruit, peppery spices and have good levels of tannin and acidity giving it backbone and structure.
Calabria (pronounced [ka'la?brja]), is a region in southern Italy, forming the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro. The most populated city and the seat of the Calabrian Regional Council, however, is Reggio. Over 90% of the region's wine production is red wine, with a large portion made from the Gaglioppo grape. Calabria has 12 Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) regions but only 4% of the yearly production is classified as DOC wine. The region is one of Italy's most rural and least industrialized with per capita income less than half of the national average.[1] Following World War II, many of Calabria's inhabitants emigrated to the United States and Argentina. Those left behind have been slow to developed a vibrant wine industry with only the red wines of Cirò garnering much international attention. Today Calabrian wines are mostly produced to high alcohol levels and sold to co-operatives who transfer the wines to the northern Italian wine regions to use as blending component.
Red wine is wine made from dark-coloured grape varieties. The color of red differs based on the grapes variety or varieties used.Interestingly, black grapes yield a juice that is greenish-white. The actual red color comes from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) from the skin of the grape (exceptions are the relatively uncommon teinturier varieties, which produce a red colored juice). Most of the production centers around the extraction of color and flavor from the grape skin.
