Wine Glossary

A red wine grape found almost exclusively in California. Now proven to be the Crljenak Kastelanski, of Croatia, where it is all but extinct. In Italy it is known as Primitivo, but evidence suggests that it came to Italy from California, and not the other way around as was originally thought. Zinfandel has been widely planted in California for generations. These vines are older than most other vines in the area, and for this reason produce some of the most intense fruit. For the uninitiated, Zinfandel means a pink wine. It is important to remember that pink wine can be made from any red wine grape, and that the true red Zinfandel shares little with its pink counterpart. Known for its wide variety of styles, most Zinfandel is not particularly tannic (and does not age well) while having an abundance of fruit, to the point of being "jammy." While Zinfandel is one of my personal favorites, especially in the moderate price range, some find the forward fruit to be too much of a good thing.

The enzymes excreted by yeast that actually do the work of fermentation. While this is so technical that most books do not even bother to mention zymase, it has yet another claim to fame. It is the root of the word Zymurgy which ends nearly all english language dictionaries.

The science and study of fermentation.