Melon de Bourgogne (mel-AWN de bore-GOY-nya)

An ancient Burgundian variety, melon was subsequently banned in Burgundy, but found a centuries-long home in the Loire Valley where it’s the grape that makes the light, tart, dry French wine Muscadet, considered the working man’s accompaniment to oysters.

The first documented white zinfandel wine was created more than a century ago.

Answer: True.

In honor of National Rosé Day tomorrow, we thought we’d look at the history of rosé—including the pink wine known as white zinfandel. The first white zinfandel was made at El Pinal Winery in Lodi, California, by George West exactly 150 years ago in 1869. Arguably, however, the first winery to popularize white zinfandel was Sutter Home Winery in the 1970s. Sutter Home’s white zin was made by accident in 1972 when a fermentation stalled, and the grapes’ sugar was not completely converted to alcohol. Thus, the resulting pinkish-colored wine was slightly sweet. This "white zinfandel" was released to the market as cheap and easy to drink. During the 1980s and 1990s, white zin outsold regular red zinfandel wines 6-to-1 and was at one time, the third most popular wine in the U.S. by volume, according to Los Angeles Magazine.

Fantastic Tan-Plastic!

Tannin in wine provides two things: structure and ageability. Found in the grape’s skins, seeds, and stems, tannin is a natural preservative. Red wines, with considerably more tannin than white, can thus age longer. Tannins belong to… Continue reading

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