A state senator's proposal to name zinfandel as California's official state wine created a buzz in Napa Valley's wine community Friday, as winemakers and growers pondered the potential pros and cons of such a christening.

State Sen. Carole Migden, D-S.F., introduced the bill Thursday, saying that zinfandel deserves to be the state's banner wine because the vines "grew up with California," according to Migden's legislative aide, John Vigna. California's oldest zinfandel vines date back 150 years to the Gold Rush, when many a miner found the rosy drink to be a beverage of choice.

"The wine industry is so important to California and so well respected throughout the world we're very happy to be sparking discussion on the subject," Vigna said, adding: "(Migden) wants to recognize zinfandel's unique cultural and historical legacy in California. It's as old as California itself. If you want to find old vines for other varietals you have to go to Europe."

While some applauded Migden's idea as a brilliant way to recognize a great drink, others said singling out just one wine for a state accolade is shortsighted, since California produces so many varietals.

But for several supporters and naysayers alike, Migden's pro-zinfandel legislation came as a jarring surprise.

That includes Julie Johnson, who heads the board of directors for the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers. While driving in San Diego Friday, Johnson received a call from the ZAP headquarters, and the caller suggested she sit down. So she pulled over, and Johnson said she's glad she did. The news came as a shock.

"I love the fact that she's recognizing wine period," said Johnson, who grows several varietals for her Tres Sabores winery, but makes most of her living from zinfandel.

Johnson believes the notion of naming "a state wine" is unprecedented. While ZAP has not yet taken an official stance on the legislation, Johnson said she's taking Migden's move as a sign that society at large is increasingly embracing wine. She recalled some of the intense resistance she and fellow members of Women for Wine Sense encountered in 1993 as they tried to get a nationwide "Wine Appreciation Week" approved by the Senate.

"We had to jump through hoops to get enough signatories. So regardless of the wine varietal, it's amazing we would have come this far," Johnson said. "It's the recognition of grape growing and the importance it has in California."

But viticultural researchers from the University of California, Davis, have traced the original zinfandel vine to Croatia.

Ivo Jeramaz of Grgich Hills Cellars, said his family grows zinfandel in both Rutherford and in their native Croatia. And though the Croatian and Californian strains vary in some of their physical characteristics, genetically they are the same, he said.

"We have no objections to (zinfandel) being named the grape of California," Jeramaz said. "But we need to acknowledge its origins are proven to be in Croatia. To say zinfandel originated in California is not true. But for 150 years the zinfandel in California has been altered in many ways and it has a successful history here."

Meanwhile other winemakers and growers were more skeptical of putting zinfandel on a state-sanctioned pedestal.

Randy Snowden, whose family has grown cabernet sauvignon grapes in St. Helena for 50 years, called the proposal "a mistake."

"I love zinfandel, it's one of my favorite wines," said Snowden, but personal preferences are beside the point, he said.

"California is just a candy shop of wines. There's so many varietals made in different parts of the state to pick any one doesn't make sense," said Snowden, who is head of the county Department of Health and Human Services, runs Snowden Vineyards with his brother, former Napa County Superior Court Judge Scott Snowden, and is also the vice president of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers.

"You could pick the dessert wines of the lower Central Valley, the pinot noirs of the Central and North Coast. You could pick zinfandel from two or three of the state's great growing regions, or cabernet from Napa or Sonoma counties. I don't think picking one out and making it the state wine is beneficial to the state."

Jennifer Kopp, the executive director for the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, said though the Grapegrowers have not yet taken a stance on the legislation, the notion of naming a "state wine" raises another interesting possibility. Kopp suggested that while the state's naming favorites, why not select a state beverage too?

"An interesting question would be 'Is wine the state beverage?'" Kopp said. "Certainly there's an argument to be made there. Forty-five billion dollars to the state economy is head and shoulders over any other beverage's contribution to the economy."