DRINKS WITH CHEESE 202 3 culturecheesemag.com 11
Rosé Zinfandel
SWEET GRASS DAIRY
PIMENTO CHEESE +
Turley Wine Cellars Zinfandel Rosé
Red Zinfandel
BELGIOIOSO PEPATO +
Frog's Leap Napa
Valley Zinfandel
Late- Harvest Zinfandel
FISCALINI BANDAGED
CHEDDAR +
2019 Inkwell Black &
Blue Fortified Zinfandel
B E L G I O I O S O
P E P A T O
Z I N F A N D E L
I N T H E C U R R E N T cheese-pairing climate,
which favors whites and lighter reds, zinfandel gets
short shrift. But it's time that changed. The grape's
history is a bit blurry, but genetic research has revealed
it to have Mediterranean roots, with ties to a Croatian
grape called crljenak kaštelanski, as well as to southern
Italy's primitivo, where you can bet the locals enjoy it
with cheese. Unfortunately, after Prohibition, and then
the blush debacle, in which zinfandel became equated
with a soda-sweet pink wine, Americans forgot what
real zinfandel tastes like. Today, as the second most-
planted red wine grape in California, zinfandel comes in
a rainbow of styles, f rom bone-dry rosés to f risky, lean
reds to spicy, high-octane bruisers and port-style dessert
wines. That means, of course, that there's a zinfandel for
every cheese. Here are a few ideas to start.
TA R A Q . T H OM A S , C heese+ 2 015
PHOTO:
Wine:
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