Harvest in Napa Valley is a unique time when the early evening’s sky hosts the final hues of a warm, tired fading orange sun and a delicate papery moon above in a blue, lavender colored sky.  The afternoons yield spikes of heat and the nights dip into a lulling chill encouraging rest.  The air is crisp as if to signify the delicate balance of autumn, farewell to summer and mindfulness of the approach of winter rains. 

The vineyards bustle with activity from grape picking, happy chatter and at times music.   One moment the grapes are hanging from the vines and the next day they are gone, replaced instead with the loud low rumble of trucks hauling the grapes away.

Vegetables and fruits are finishing their seasonality and simultaneously new crops typically associated with late spring elsewhere appear anew.   It is as if every aspect of the valley is working hard during this festive time of harvest and the fruits of labor are apparent everywhere.

From time to time, a grape varietal will dovetail with a season, the weather or an occasion.   Wine is a continual education and often, just when you think that you can know all that you can about a varietal, it will surprise you.   Zinfandel is a red wine that many pour for summer barbeques but it truly shines during autumnal harvest.  

Zinfandel has such a unique personality and it varies dramatically depending on the vineyard which it is grown, the weather and the age of the vine.  In California it is grown widely and is the second widest planted grape behind Cabernet Sauvignon.  Depending on the winery’s production, Zinfandel can be berry-like, smooth like silk, hearty, peppery, layered and most importantly with depth.   It is these characteristics that make Zinfandel fun, if not hard-working, and a perfect fit for harvest.

Benessere Vineyards (“Benessere”), located in St. Helena in the northern part of Napa Valley, is well-regarded for its Italian varietals but it has always produced a wonderful old vine zinfandel wine from wines that are over 80 years old.   Benessere neighbors Kathy and Bill Collins own gnarly zinfandel vines which were planted in 1923 and have lovingly farmed them for the past 40 years.  Benessere has had the good fortune to purchase this old vine zinfandel fruit.  Consistently a wonderful wine, the texture is wonderfully smooth and accompanied by flavors of red sweet plum, soft flavors of licorice white pepper.  The nose of the wine will deliver aromas of warmed red raspberries and bits of vanilla.

For this article, I am featuring two vintages:  2006 and 2007.   While only one year apart, the weather for the growing seasons was so different that the wines have very distinct personalities.  2006 was an abnormally wet and cool spring for Napa Valley with extreme heat for about two weeks in July.   Zinfandel is typically harvested earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon so given the amount of moisture and prolonged cool first half of the growing season, the 2006 vintage is today drinking well but significantly lighter and thinner.   It is elegant but at this stage of its life best paired with light fare or simple starters.   Here prosciutto bows are garnished with bits of microgreens and are paired with a grassy flavored San Geronimo cheese from nearby Nicasio Valley in Marin County and simple slices of juicy strawberry.  Pairing with the wine, the strawberries match the acidity of the varietal and accentuate the thinning fruit flavors in the wine.   The grassy nature of the cheese brings forth similar herbaceous notes in the wine and the saltiness of the prosciutto enlivens the the wine and its pepper notes.

2007 was a very different growing season for Napa Valley as it was considered a textbook year for winemakers.  It was impossible to make a bad wine in 2007 and grapes were in abundance.  The red wines that were made from 2007 grapes were bigger, bolder and frankly, not readily accessible as the 2006 vintage was.   2007 red wines have benefited from cellaring and while the 2007 vintage of Benessere’s Holystone Collins Vineyard Zinfandel has been drinking well for the last few years, it does not disappoint today and can likely continue to age well.   The 2007 vintage continues to have a wonderful structure while maintaining its traditional silky texture.  Bits of red sweet plum linger on the finish and this wine is perfect to pair with a main course. 

This pairing’s menu hosts:

·         Zucchini Lasagne with Baby Garden Greens Balsamic Salad

Greens such as arugula practically grow like a wild weed in Napa Valley.   When young, these peppery leaves deliver a tremendous punch of flavor but here find their balance among young spinach leaves, red and green lettuce, young chard and Asian greens.   Microgreens are clipped from a window sill to glamorize and intensely flavored miniature roma tomatoes are picked from containers on the deck.   The salad becomes a mix of intense flavors, just as Zinfandel often is, and the salad is drizzled with a bit of herbed balasamic vinaigrette.   Each bite is incomparably flavorful.  Growning greens in your backyard delivers immediate top flavor combined with a firm sense of place.  The baby arugula packs a punch that would knock out any store bought flavor.  The mix in this simple salad reflects the intense complexity of flavors that Napa Valley cuisine is known for.   When paired with the wine, the wine becomes incredibly romantic with flavors of lavender and aromas of rose.  Notes of lavender are heady and for anyone who has lived in Napa Valley for any significant period of time, the combination of flavors in this simple salad passionately reflects five-star wine and food pairing characteristic of this area.

Lasagne… noodleless!  When I first started the web site, I did a Zucchini Lasagne but here I elected to make the dish with a different tomato sauce (which I made from scratch):   caramelized onions, garlic, a dash of oregano, red pepper flakes, fresh sage from the garden and old vine zinfandel meets grass-fed ground beef seasoned with purple basil, savory and lemon thyme.  It just does not get better than this.   Zucchini is not soggy but similar to a perfectly al dente noodle with a slight crispness such that it holds its form.  This mix meets its match with the wine.  Zinfandel may seem like a unique choice for this but not a terribly surprising one:  the varietal has acidity necessary to balance a tomato-based dish.  The spunky nature of Zinfandel lets its varietal personalty shine with this red sauce.  The red pepper flakes in the sauce enliven the wine.   A delicious string of herbs materializes as the wine races back to the final regions of the palate.

Zinfandel truly captures the essence of harvest in Napa Valley.   It delivers spice, a bit of heat, liveliness akin to the excitement and energy of harvest and just has enough “edge” to it such that it can convey the hard-working nature of all of those involved in making another vintage “happen” from one of the tope wine regions in the world.  This pairing conveys a sense of time and place that is often difficult to parallel, let alone replicate.  And for those not living in Napa Valley, if your evening weather is tolerable, throw on a sweater and sip this varietal outdoors.   As the fall air drops in temperature, red wine is being served at its ideal temperature and its flavors become more pronounced.