Interview with Robert Biale

I have always been a Zinfandel fan, I like juicy and caressing wines that are always friendly and always willing to have fun. Zinfandel will always answer your phone calls and it will always let you in when you show up unannounced. It’s a good friend to have. At a recent dinner with Robert Biale, I got a little inside info on what makes this iconic Zinfandel producer tick.

BR: What makes Zinfandel so special?

RB: It’s not easy to grow, but easy to drink. You can drink it all time. You can drink it in the summer, in the winter, you don’t have to wait for it, it’s right there, it expresses itself all the time.

BR: What is the key to growing successful Zinfandel?

RB: Looking at bloom length. If the bloom length is long you have to chop fruit at veraison to push for even ripeness, otherwise you’ll have uneven clusters and an undeveloped wine. Bloom is the key to getting pure Zin.

BR: How has the Zinfandel market changed since your first vintage in 1991?

RB: It’s gotten better! In the 70s and 80s it was an uphill climb with Zin. Styles were all over the place and it wasn’t taken seriously at all. Starting in the 90s, we had some really great vintages and the valley (Napa) started to put focus on really developing varietals in general and Zinfandel benefited from that.

BR: What’s your favourite thing to eat with Zinfandel?

RB: Rabbit stew with soft polenta…and grilled lamb chops with herbs.

BR: What material do you use to replant your vineyards with?

RB: We use St George root stock, as it’s designed for deep roots. We dry farm mostly, so deep root development is key. We look for balance in our wines with layers of flavours, so we’ll replant with vine stock from some of the vineyards we source from and from our estate vineyards of course…it depends on what we want to express and what the vineyard needs. We use a philosophy, trying to pull as much from the vineyard as possible.

BR: Zinfandel is often regarded as a wine to drink young, what are your thoughts on aging?

RB: I think 3 to 5 years is best, personally I like 5 years. After a certain point Zinfandel turns into just an aged red wine, which can be delicious, but not exactly highlighting Zinfandel character. Some sites like Old Hill and Monterosso can age very well, but really there are very few sights that can develop over a long time.

BR: How was the 2009 harvest for you?

RB: Harvest was in, thank god. The rains in October were a real game changer for fruit still on the vine. It’s hard to recover from rain like that, especially for Zinfandel. We had very fresh wines in 2009, similar to 2006.

BR: What’s up with the Black Chicken label, what’s the story behind that name?

RB: In the 40s, my Dad’s dad died, when he was about 14. My Dad was pretty smart and a numbers guy, even so young, and figured out he could make more money from selling wine rather than selling grapes. He learned how to make wine from his uncle Thomas and started making wine when he was 15. This was just after Prohibition and selling homemade wine was common, just not advertised. Plus at the time, if you were growing grapes and you were Italian, and you were making wine, you were selling wine under the table. The phone system back then was called a Party Line; everyone’s phone was connected so everyone could hear everyone else. To keep things on the down low, people would ask my Dad for a dozen eggs and a black chicken....this meant a gallon of wine.

BR: You have fruit source from Stagecoach vineyards, how does this fruit differ from your valley floor plantings?

RB: The Stagecoach fruit is interesting as it’s more austere and less giving with fruit, kinda earthy. The valley floor gives the traditional character of Zin, big juicy fruit wines, real upfront.

BR: Why do you drink wine?

RB: I like it. I grew up with it in the field and I want to know what it tastes like. It’s a hard question. I’ve never really separated it before; it was always part of the table and still is. For me it’s a part of life.