Old vine zins:

better than new?

When you buy tomatoes, apples, pears, oranges or melons, no one brags that the best fruits come from old plants.

So why are so many zinfandels labeled "old vines," implying strongly that the wine inside is better because it came from an old plant?

In fact, this prompted one reader to write and ask if an "old vine" zinfandel was really a better wine than one that came from newer vines. And the answer to the question is not simple or cut and dry.

The fact is, no winemaker would state that his zinfandel comes from old vines if it didn't directly imply something positive about the wine. And that positive is assumed to be more flavor. So what, you may ask, is so special about the flavors of grapes that come off old vines?

This is a controversial subject about which even winemakers debate. And since the federal government, which controls what can be said on a wine label, has not weighed in on this subject with a definition of the term "old vines," we are left to conjecture.

There is no question that many older vineyards planted with zinfandel do produce a flavorful red wine -- but not all of them. Some older zinfandel vineyards are merely old, and they make only modest-quality wine.

I believe that the most appealing thing about the better old zin vineyards is that the vines struggle so much that their per-acre yield is quite small, thus making for a more concentrated wine.

So is concentration the thing that makes old-vine wines so appealing? If so, growers who have younger vines could simply choose to grow less fruit per acre and achieve the same sort of concentration that comes from old vineyards. And many do.

Then again, why do we not see "old vines" on cabernet sauvignon? Or pinot noirs. If concentrated flavors are a good thing in zinfandel, aren't they desirable in cabernet and other red wines?

And, as if we need more rhetorical questions, why are some old vine zinfandels not as concentrated as they are elegant and balanced? Moreover, what exactly is an old vine vineyard? Is it 20 years old? Or 40?

Probably the oldest vineyard in California with most of its original vines in place is the Grandpere Vineyard in Amador County, an all-zinfandel vineyard that was planted around the time of the Civil War and which still makes fine wine. A feature of such vineyards is that they are "head-pruned," so they are grown close to the ground and not trained on wires.

Also, such vineyards rarely are irrigated, meaning the vines must send their roots down deep into the earth to search for water. And an old French saying is that the best vines must struggle, so this may be related to quality as well.

Moreover, the older a vineyard, the more likely it is to have other varieties inter-planted, and many of the "old vine zinfandels" we see are as complex as they are because they are field-blended with other grapes that add different fruit characteristics, such as the pomegranate of grenache, the red-earthiness of carignane, or the pepper of petite sirah.

Among the older vineyards in California is a special parcel of the large Kunde Ranch in Sonoma Valley. Planted in 1882, this vineyard was originally 28 acres, but over time it has shrunk (as vines have died) to barely 10 acres.

The Kunde family's wine maker, David Noyes, a zin lover, makes a special wine from this block every year, and the wine is fairly priced and relatively widely available.

It is not labeled as "old vines," but Century Vines, and is a classic accompaniment to pizza, pasta with tomato sauce, and grilled meats.

Wine of the Week: 2002 Kunde Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley, "Century Vines" ($24) -- Relatively elegant wine with a bright fruit aroma of raspberries and strawberries, hints of black pepper and clove, and a generous yet not overbearing structure (14.5 percent alcohol).

Dan Berger resides in Sonoma County. Berger publishes a weekly newsletter on wine and can be reached at danberger@VintageExperiences.com.