Chateau Montelena Estate Zinfandel 2019

Calistoga is an AVA surrounding the Calistoga town, in the north of Napa Valley. Established in 2010, it is one of the warmest and topographically diverse AVAs of California.

Calistoga is known for big red wines, and here, varietal Cabernet Sauvignon is king. They are typically full-bodied, rich in color and texture with notes of coffee, vanilla and oak. Zinfandel is a close contender, also produced on a large scale in the same, full-bodied style. They are accompanied by Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Petite Sirah. The few white wines made here are based on Sauvignon Blanc and, of course, Chardonnay.

Zinfandel has been used to make various wine styles since it arrived in the USA, including dry and sweet red wines and the famous White Zinfandel blush, created to cater for a white wine-drinking American consumer base of the 1970s. The arrival of this new wine style in the early 1970s led to an explosion of Zinfandel plantings – perhaps ironic given that the style of wine was created to find a use for the swathes of underused Zinfandel vines already in existence.

By the 1990s the popularity of dry red Zinfandel had given these plantings a new raison d'etre, although they were still being used to generate many millions of liters of sweet pink blush every year. Today, red Zinfandel has risen to become the signature wine of the U.S., not due to the quality of wine it produces, but because it is as close to an "American" variety as vinifera vines get. The discovery that it was an Italian variety in disguise led to mixed reactions, including pride at the association with a prestigious wine nation, but also a certain uneasiness that Zinfandel had lost some of its American individuality.