Beringer, White Zinfandel 2007

It’s not a style that has made an impact in the Australian market, but white Zinfandel has been a huge success in the USA where the Beringer White Zinfandel is said to be “America’s favourite white Zinfandel”.

And the “white zinfandel” moniker is somewhat surprising given that it is more pink than white in the glass and certainly more rosepetals AND peachy on the palate than any white wine I’m accustomed to. The fact that a wine as sweet as this needs to be well chilled tends to make it nondescript on the nose and as it passes across the palate, the sugary preserved apricot flavours tend to deny the wine any austerity. The lack of an acidic backbone leaves a flabbiness in the mouthfeel that had me thinking that I’d just sampled a somewhat flat soft drink.

So while the relatively low alcohol (at around 10.5%) is a plus, and the price point is appealing ($7), I can’t see the varietal making inroads in the Australian market any time soon – at least not while I’m a wine consumer!