Zin must win over Arnie

Zinfandel looks set to become California’s official state grape. A legislative bill proclaiming it as the sunshine state’s ‘historic wine’ was passed this month and is now awaiting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature. According to the bill, California is the only place in the world to find old-vine Zinfandel, where a few growers in the Sierra Nevada Foothills continue a tradition that began in the Gold Rush. Zinfandel ranks as California’s third most popular wine. It accounts for around 10 per cent of all wine grapes grown in the state and is bottled by about 600 of the 800 wineries.