Is it the parentage of the vines or the environmental conditions of the region that give Sierra Foothills Zinfandels their unique characteristics? This question has been the subject of continuous controversy among foothill wine producers and consumers for decades.

In 1997 a group of foothill grapegrowers and winemakers got together with Amador County farm advisor Donna Hirschfelt, of the UC Cooperative Extension, to develop a project to address the question of parentage versus environment. Their idea was to obtain cuttings of as many of the existing foothills Zinfandel clones as possible and propagate a "foothill heritage" vineyard. Wines would then be made from each of the vineyard clones and evaluated for distinctive aroma, flavor and character.

In 1998, Leon and Paul Sobon obtained cuttings from one El Dorado, one Calaveras and seven Amador County Zinfandel vineyards. Cuttings from Sobon's Primitivo vineyard were also included in the project. Selected fruiting wood was grafted on St. George rootstock and planted using 8-by-12 foot spacing on 2.5 acres of the Deaver Ranch property in Shenandoah Valley. The vineyard was developed in the traditional Zinfandel manner: head trained and spur pruned with no trellising and limited irrigation.

Ken Deaver's family has been growing grapes in the foothills for five generations. He has one of the oldest producing Zinfandel vineyards in the state, with vines planted in the early 1880s. Deaver has some experience growing Zinfandel in the foothills, so he agreed to provide the ground and maintain the project vineyard. "I've always been interested in answering the clone versus environment question, so I was happy to provide the ground for the vineyard," he said. "We farm this vineyard using sustainable agricultural practices, just like we do all our other vineyards."

The Sierra Foothills Zinfandel project vineyard is located on a gentle slope of Shenandoah Valley with northern, southern and western exposures. Soils are decomposed granite-based Shenandoah loam. The vineyard is high Region 3 in terms of heating degree-days, with approximately 36 inches of annual rainfall.

"The vineyard was laid out in 80 blocks containing 32 vines per block," said Donna Hirschfelt, project coordinator. "We planted four rows of eight vines in each clonal block, and each block was replicated eight times throughout the vineyard. We wanted to make sure there was a block of each selection in every area of the vineyard." The vineyard contains 2,560 vines.

Sierra Foothill Vineyard Selection--Lab Report From ETS

VINEYARD SELECTION								EtOH (% vol)	GLC & FRU (g/ 100mL)	FDS (mg/L)	TSD (mg/L)	pH	TA (g/ 100mL)	VA (g/ 100mL)
Aparicio								15.41	.02	26	39	3.84	.56	.065
Deaver								15.35	.04	15	24	3.74	.63	.087
Dal Porto								15.19	.02	20	39	3.76	.63	.083
Eschen								15.03	.02	25	42	3.81	.58	.068
Ghiradelli								15.56	.02	16	32	3.75	.65	.079
Higgins								15.27	.02	20	41	3.78	.62	.073
Lubenko								15.72	.03	19	38	3.76	.62	.075
Steiner								16.06	.09	13	31	3.76	.6	.077
Upton								15.58	<.02	17	35	3.8	.62	.070
Primitivo								15.54	.03	16	32	3.74	.61	.069
* All vineyard selections contain <.05 L-MALIC ACID (g/L)

The first commercial crop was harvested in September 2002. A total of 10,147 pounds of grapes was hand harvested and taken to Sobon Estate for crush and fermentation. A nine-member group of foothills growers and winemakers developed a protocol that would reflect "traditional" foothill Zinfandel winemaking procedures. This protocol ensured that the wines from each clone were made in exactly the same way. Fruit from each clone was fermented and barreled separately (Table 1 above).

According to the project fermentation protocol, grapes from each clonal selection were de-stemmed and crushed into individual half-ton, open-top bins. Following the addition of 40 ppm sulfite, the must was inoculated with D-245 yeast with no nutrient additives. Fermentation times varied between six and 10 days, depending on harvest conditions and the maturity of individual selections. Fermentation temperature did not exceed 85°F, and caps were manually punched down two to three times per day.

Each lot was drained by hand through a pump-over screen into neutral American oak barrels. Skins were hand pressed as a separate lot and used for topping by the winemaking team of Hirschfelt and cooperative extension research assistants Sarah Hale and Scott Oneto, under the supervision of Paul Sobon. The juice was transferred to Montevina winery, where the wine was clarified, racked and aged in neutral American oak barrels for 14 months. It was important that the fresh, clean fruit character not be affected by oak barrel tannins and flavors, according to the winemaking protocol. Barrels were topped every 6-8 weeks and racked quarterly. The wines were not fined or filtered.

A total of 700 gallons of wine was made from the 2002 heritage Zinfandel harvest--one barrel for each clonal selection. Several weeks prior to bottling, about 6 gallons of each wine were combined in one barrel to make a clonal selection blend. A limited amount of this 10 Clone Zinfandel blend is available to the public through Deaver Vineyards.

Preliminary results from tastings of the 2002 wines show strong similarities among the nine Zinfandels, but there are some noticeable sensory differences in all nine wines. The Primitivo is readily identifiable, and is higher in alcohol, with a touch of residual sugar. All the wines show bright red color, fresh fruitiness and fine tannins typical of wines from young vines. While relatively high in alcohol, the wines are lighter in body and lack the complexity of wines from more mature vines. Each wine does show the fresh, spicy berry and pepper characteristic of foothills Zin. However, it is too early to draw any substantive conclusions whether the parentage or the growing environment determine the flavors and aromas of foothills Zinfandel. Table 2 (below)shows the ETS lab report for the finished 2002 Amador Heritage Zinfandels.

Sierra Foothill Vineyard Selection--4-Year-Old Vine Evaluation

VINEYARD SELECTION								SOL. SOLIDS (BRIX)	pH	TITR. ACID	CLSTR. PER VINE	YIELD/ VINE (lbs.)	CLSTR. WT. (grams)	PRUNING WT. (lbs.)
Aparicio								25.1	3.51	.65	8.2	4.27	260.1	.5
Deaver								25	3.48	.68	7.9	4.20	241.1	.43
Dal Porto								25.4	3.49	.69	7.6	4.31	256.5	.38
Eschen								25.1	3.52	.65	7.2	3.01	204.3	.30
Ghiradelli								26.2	3.46	.71	7.1	3.01	192.5	.38
Higgins								24.9	3.48	.69	8.0	4.59	261.6	.5
Lubenko								25.5	3.47	.69	8.6	4.63	244.7	.46
Steiner								25.7	3.47	.66	7.5	3.65	220.7	.48
Upton								25.3	3.47	.71	9.1	4.55	227.0	.51
Primitivo								26.5	3.52	.65	9.0	3.83	194.1	.50
* All vineyard selections BERRY WEIGHT = 1.8 grams

According to Hirschfelt, "We decided not to make wines from the 2003 harvest, because we wanted see if fruit from more mature vines would result in significantly different wines. We did make wines from the 2004 harvest, but it is too early to make any meaningful comparisons."

The Sierra Foothill Vineyard Selection project enjoys a broad range of supporters including vintners, growers and ZAP, the organization of Zinfandel producers and consumers. Hirschfelt says that ZAP's interest in the project is from the consumer perspective. The more producers know about the factors that give Sierra Foothills Zinfandels their unique character, the more they can help consumers enjoy the distinctiveness of the region's wines.

Parentage or environment--which is the determining factor for Zinfandel flavor and aroma? Stay tuned, we're working on it.

(Kenneth Young is the wine educator for Deaver Vineyards in Amador County. He contributes to a variety of publications regarding the California wine industry and lifestyle. Contact him through edit@winesandvines.com.)

Sierra Foothill Heritage Vineyards

Aparicio -- On Sutter Ridge six miles east of Sutter Creek, Aparicio Vineyards was planted in 1934. Joe and Iris Aparicio still farm the family vineyard. Deaver -- Planted in the early 1880s, the 14 acres of gnarly old vines continue to produce 3-4 tons of grapes per acre. Cuttings from Deaver vines were used to propagate many of the older vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley. Deaver Clone bud wood is available from several commercial nurseries in northern California. Deaver Clone on St. George or 110R rootstock is known as a sturdy, warm climate, drought-resistant Zinfandel vine, ideal for foothills vineyards. Dal Porto -- In the heart of Amador's Shenandoah Valley, off Shenandoah School Road, the vineyard was planted in the 1920s by the Dal Porto family. About 8 acres of the original vineyards still provide excellent fruit for foothill wineries. Eschen -- Over the ridge from the Shenandoah Valley is the tiny community of Fiddletown and its unique Zinfandel vineyards. Started as the Esola vineyard in 1913, the original vineyard was lost to phylloxera. The old Eschen vines are now pushing 50 years, but are slowly being lost to the dreaded pest. Eschen fruit goes into several high-end Northern California Zinfandels. Ghirardelli -- Five generations of Ghirardellis have tended the 100-plus-year-old, head trained, unirrigated vineyard east of Spring Valley in Calaveras County. This vineyard is the lowest in elevation of the heritage vineyards, and is in a hot region (Region 4). Ghirardelli grapes are sold primarily to Calaveras County wineries. Higgins -- The lone El Dorado County contribution to the heritage selection is the 1-acre Higgins vineyard near Fair Play. The Higgins family planted vines among their fruit trees in 1908, and provided grapes to home winemakers in the foothills. In recent years, Granite Springs was the primary beneficiary of Higgins fruit. Even though the vineyard was pulled out a few years ago, cuttings from Higgins live on in the Oakstone vineyard. Lubenko -- Across the street from Eschen, the Lubenko vineyard was planted around 1910, and provided cuttings for the original Esola vineyard. The Fiddletown AVA is a bit higher in elevation (1,700 feet) than Shenandoah Valley, and has two different soils. Lubenko is on Sites Series soil derived from schist and brownish in color. Eschen is on Shenandoah sandy loam from decomposed granite with a reddish color. Sobon Estate now owns Lubenko vineyard, which provides grapes for its Fiddletown Zinfandel. Steiner -- The 2-acre vineyard was originally planted in the early 1970s from cuttings taken from the famous original Grandpere vineyard, just across Steiner Road. Located in northeastern Shenandoah Valley, original Grandpere is thought to be the oldest surviving Zinfandel vineyard in Amador County. Probably planted in the late 1860s or early 1870s, the former 9-acre Downing Vineyard continues to produce 3 tons per acre, as does the offshoot Steiner Vineyard now owned by the Deaver family. Upton -- Sadie Upton's 6-acre Zinfandel vineyard was planted in 1922. Located on the north side of Shenandoah Valley, Upton fruit goes into several Amador County Zinfandels including Karly Sadie Upton Zin. Sadie has passed on, but the family still owns and carefully farms the precious old vines. Primitivo -- Leon Sobon's Primitivo vineyard was originally planted 14 years ago as Zinfandel on St. George rootstock. Sobon wanted to try something new, so he grafted Primitivo on the existing rootstock four years later. Primitivo is thought to have the same parentage as Zinfandel. While genetically identical to Zinfandel, there are recognizable differences between the vines. K.Y.