The annual DAT Tasting: Thirty years of great zinfandel
Nov. 26—Lovers of California zinfandel rejoice!
The Day After Thanksgiving — or DAT Tasting for short — was held Friday afternoon at On the Vine Wine Bar on Rosedale Highway. The event marked 30 years of exploring, learning about and celebrating this unique California varietal that, when done right, makes a unique and delicious red wine.
No attendees appeared to be disappointed Friday afternoon as 20 or so wine lovers gathered at the tasting that also served food and desserts, along with some of the best zins in the state.
"This is a reminder of how far zins have come," said Karen Bennet, manager and wine specialist at On the Vine.
According to Bennett, zinfandels have gone through a number of trends in style and quality over the past three decades.
"Thirty years ago when we started doing this, most of the zins were ... over-the-top in alcohol and ripeness," she said. "They were so jammy you would want to pour them over your pancakes."
Even worse, she said, was the white zinfandel craze that hit in the late 1970s and early-'80s. The wines were so cloying and sweet, Bennett said, that she stuck a bumper sticker on her '71 Chevy pickup that read, "Friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel."
But winemakers have since zeroed in on the best expression of the zinfandel grape and the best places to grow it.
The DAT tastings began in the early 1990s at the Wine Seller on Oak Street, when it was owned by Bennet. Later the store moved to Eye Street in downtown Bakersfield.
Bennet moved to the coast for a number of years, and during that time, Meir Brown of Cafe Med continued the tradition at his Stockdale Highway restaurant.
Bennett returned to Bakersfield in about 2011, went to work at Cafe Med, and again began running the DAT tastings, until Cafe Med closed in 2019.
Inside On the Vine, a photo of the late Tom Clow stands in a place of honor. Clow, who died last year, was a well-known collector of some of the greatest zins made in California, wines he shared with enthusiasts each year at the DAT Tasting.
Over the years, Clow became something of a legend to local zin enthusiasts.
"This is a very special day for him," said Trish, Clow's longtime wife, who attended Friday's tasting.
Among the stars of the tasting were the 2016 Carlisle Zinfandel from Montafi Ranch in Sonoma's Russian River Valley, and the oldest wine at the tasting, the 2009 Beekeeper Zinfandel grown at Madrone Spring Vineyard in the Rockpile Appellation, also in Sonoma County.
The latter wine is clear proof, Bennett said, that the best zins can and do improve in the bottle. However, most zinfandels probably should not be aged much longer than four to six years, she said.
Longtime wine lover Tom Baca was there Friday. He brought a Limerick Lane zinfandel, another one of the favorites of the tasting.
But why attend a tasting at all? Why not just drink your wine at home?
"First of all, there's a camaraderie with other people who love wine," Baca said. "Wine drinkers are wonderful people.
"It's not the same as going out and having a beer," he said.
"And secondly, when you come to a tasting like this ... you try wines you've never tried before. And that's how you learn," he said.
"You get to talk to other people about the wines, and that's how you develop your palate and your knowledge."
Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
