(TDB) - California’s Zinfandels are returning to a less alcoholic and more balanced style, prompted by a run of cooler vintages, and believes the region’s most prominent producer of the grape.

Following a Zinfandel tasting as part of last October’s California Wine Summit, Joel Peterson, known as “the godfather of Zin”, spoke to db about the stylistic evolution of the variety during his career in the wine industry, which spans more than 30 years.

In particular, he recorded a “return to a balanced, vineyard appropriate approach” after a period during the last decade when producers were making wines that were only “good for getting drunk”.

Charting the grape’s history over his life, Peterson said that the Zinfandel he experienced in the 70s was primarily “a jug style wine”, which was usually aged in large Redwood containers giving a soft, slightly brown result.

This was followed by a more “European” type of Zin with 12.5% to 14% abv, more oak, particularly French oak, and “balance”.

However, in the late 70s, Amador County spearheaded a different approach, picking Zinfandels late and making wines which had as much as 16% abv, some residual sugar, and lots of colour and tannin, according to Peterson.

Such wines were collected, but after cellaring, Peterson noted that consumers found that the Zins “fell apart and became hollow tannic shells”.

This prompted a focus on producers such as Ravenswood or Ridge, who “had carried the middle ground with moderate oak and an abv around 14%”.

Nevertheless, the era of high alcohol Zins came back in 1996 – the year when wine critic Robert Parker awarded 100 points to the 1994 Turley Hill Zin from the Hayne Vineyard.