Wine With Burgers? It Ought to Be a Zin

If there’s a better all-purpose wine for hamburgers than Zinfandel, I don’t know it.

Fortunately for wine--and hamburger--lovers, the 1991 and 1992 vintages have been good ones for California Zinfandel. Harvests have been later than normal and the alcohol levels of Zinfandel are up there in the 14s--powerful enough to compete with the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, tomato, onion, avocado, pickle, lettuce and barbecue sauce that accompany the beef’s smoked flavor.

The best thing about Zinfandel, after the fact that it tastes so darn good with a wide range of hearty foods, is that it doesn’t need long aging. Great Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines are thick with tannin when released and need time to smooth out; most Pinot Noir-based wines are awkward and closed-in when young.

But young, precocious Zinfandel dances across the tongue gaily, enhancing spicy flavors. The day it is released, most Zinfandel shows a racy strawberry-jam tone that works just fine with the things we tend to do to hamburger. And even those Zinfandels that have a load of tannin are tamed a bit by the grease of the burger.

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Moreover, the coarseness of some Zinfandels is usually overcome by the char of the burger.

It’s true, of course, that some Zinfandels are still harvested so late and fermented so clumsily that they smell like raisins and taste like dry Port. But the era of that kind of wine is almost past, and these days few producers make that sort of misteak--uh, mistake.

No one decreed that hamburger off the grill is, de facto , a Zinfandel wine. Indeed, a great Beaujolais, slightly chilled, or even a fine rose will work too. But I have tested Zin/burger combos a lot, and I can vouch for the beauty of the match.

An important side note here: If the burger is griddled, not grilled over charcoal (or better yet wood), the flavors are simpler. And although Zinfandel still is a good choice, other red wines work as well, such as Syrah, Petite Sirah and even a strong Merlot.

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Evaluating Zinfandel is not a task I fear. For one thing, so many wineries make great Zin these days that the tasting is actually fun--there’s little of the painful tannin juice I suffer through when judging some red wines. Then, after the wines are scored without sight of the label, I have the joy of unveiling them and seeing how they match up with various regions--whether I could tell that one wine was from Amador County and another from Dry Creek.

Better still, after such evaluations are finished, I have my pick of the wines to pair with burgers or sausages cooked out of doors on a smokey grill.

Most of the following wines were evaluated blind, though they were not all sampled at the same sitting, so my judgment may have been affected by the food, which in one case was a hearty and challenging plate of linguine puttanesca , loaded with anchovies and capers. They are listed in approximate order of preference, with the following four wines all highly recommended--especially for those who load up their burgers with every sort of gloppy sauce and even bacon and chiles.

* 1991 Dry Creek Vineyards “Reserve” ($20): A lot of money, but worth it. A ton of cherry/raspberry jam fruit, a pepper/clove note and a mouthful of flavor. Only 500 cases were made, but it’s worth seeking. Dry Creek’s 1991 “regular” bottling ($12) is also excellent.

* 1990 Kendall-Jackson Vineyards “DuPratt” ($18): Huge, high-tone fruit with hints of blackberries, violets, jam and pepper. A fairly powerful wine that shouldn’t be served with simple dishes. The heartier the better.

* 1991 Sausal Vineyards “Private Reserve” ($14): Really gutsy scents of blackberry jam and cedar, and a coarse finish, but with ample fruit to carry the tannins. It has a shorter finish than the previous two wines but is almost their equal.

* 1992 Steele Wines “Pacini Vineyard” ($13): Very ripe flavors and an array of different spices (cinnamon and nutmeg among them), and a very tart entry. Especially good with burgers onto which you plop a huge slice of tomato.

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The following nine wines are highly recommended for those who prefer a more delicate style of wine to match with a simpler hamburger, such as the one that has little or no ketchup:

* 1992 Quivira Vineyards ($13): More grace than power, but with very concentrated ripe-berry scents, noticeable but not overdone oak and a long, complex aftertaste. A marvel of harmony.

* 1992 Gary Farrell Wines ($15): Slightly more depth than most of the wines in this class, and the depth comes from concentrated fruit, not mere alcohol. The strawberry/raspberry notes of the aroma carry through on the tongue. An exciting wine that will be even better in a year.

* 1992 Nalle Winery ($15): Riper than some past vintages, this carefully crafted wine still offers nuances of the bright berryish fruit I have come to love from Doug Nalle. A wine that may be consumed now, but an additional year may make it better.

* 1991 Renwood Winery ($12): Scott Harvey knows as much about Amador County Zinfandel as anyone, and this stylish, jam/ripe and tart wine is almost big enough to make it into the first group of wines. Just a trace course in the finish.

* 1991 Lolonis Vineyards “Reserve” ($14): Sensational fruit, almost cherry jam-like, with concentrated fruit and oak taste. Powerful, yet with charm and approachability. A less expensive 1991 Lolonis ($10) is similarly structured and just a tad lighter in tone. Both excellent wines.

* 1992 Coppola Vineyards “Edizione Penino” ($12): Film director Francis Ford Coppola’s gorgeous vineyard on Napa Valley’s Rutherford Bench has a small amount of Zinfandel. This claret-style wine is deeply rich without a lot of jam or oak notes. The wine’s charm is in fruit and perfect balance.

* 1992 Clos du Bois Winery ($10): Elegant aroma of berryish fruit, with more substance in the mouth, fleshy and jam-rich. A less demanding wine that still carries a wallop (14.5% alcohol).

* 1992 Alderbrook Winery ($12): A peppery note overrides some of the fruit, but there’s ample power in the taste and finish.

* 1991 Benziger Winery ($12): Good fruit here, but finding it isn’t easy because of an obvious note of vanilla from a bit too much oak. A nicely textured wine that should match with less-spicy foods.

There are at least a dozen other great Zinfandels worth trying, including those from Frog’s Leap Winery, Clos du Val, Sebastiani, St. Francis, Gundlach Bundschu, De Loach, Rodney Strong, Peachy Canyon, Kenwood, Eberle and Ridge.

All in all, my various tastings of Zinfandel proved once again that ounce for ounce and dollar for dollar it offers more flavor, more flexibility and more excitement than any other red wine.