When I departed for college back in 2008, my parents were unusually bashful about both drinking and dating advice. We had always operated under the premise of a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy - I was responsible for my actions and would be solely responsible for the consequences. I was thus surprised when my mom chimed in one night, likely after a glass or two of wine. “Just never drink White Zinfandel,” she told me somberly. “Men will assume something about you that you’re not.” Likely due to my discomfort I nodded and we moved onto another more innocuous topic. Yet the lessons stayed with me, and likely persist at some level even now: 1) Never drink White Zin, and 2) the type of wines you drink have implications for how others might perceive you.
Although I have since tasted White Zinfandel and decided it’s far too sweet for me regardless of my mother’s assertion, I’ve never verified her point. I therefore welcome this opportunity to dig in. Hopefully the results of my search will either provide myself and classmates license to embrace the varietal without guilt, or steer us away for good reason.
White Zinfandel is a rosé made from the Zinfandel wine grape. Typically these grapes are used to produce deep and jammie reds that I tend to love. White Zinfandel, rather, describes a way the grapes are processed, which results in a sweeter-tasting rosé wine. The technique is believed to have been developed in the 1970s, when Sutter Home changed the way it produced Red Zinfandel to make it more potent. They extracted some of the grape juice before fermentation, which they fermented into the newly branded “White Zinfandel.” Likely due to this sugary and drinkable flavor profile, the varietal took off. White Zin became Sutter Home’s most popular wine, and spread to other vineyards, making up 10% of wine sales by volume in the U.S. as of 2006.
So where does that land us? I did note that White Zinfandel was started from a waste product, and is still cheaper to produce than most table wines, in part due to a lower fruit quality required to make the drink. This perception of low quality isn’t helped by the fact that it’s often consumed as illustrated below, like a fruity “starter” drink and often over ice.
Yet according to some sources, White Zinfandel is becoming an acceptable beverage order. Winemaker Chris Brockway sells a $22 Sonoma County version, which is reported to be not overly sweet. Christina Turley sells one for $18 (her red Zins sell for upwards of $100 per bottle).
I thus conclude my research by acknowledging a shift in perception, but also a likely still-entrenched bias. Though I would personally like to resist the notion that wine choices signal dating behaviors, I do still think a White Zinfandel could signal a nascence with wine unless 1) you are drinking a particularly nice one, and 2) you are accompanied by a person well-versed enough to recognize that. I would love Alyssa’s input here, but for now I think I’ll stick with my chards.
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