Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) announced that it officially launched The California Zinfandel Trail. This new platform is designed to boost tourism and raise interest in wineries that produce America’s time-honored heritage wine, Zinfandel.
“Consumers and wineries alike will benefit from this fast-track connection directly to Zinfandel winemakers, featuring small production artisanal wines that are available to consumers only by visiting the winery in person or virtually,” according to ZAP Executive Director, Rebecca Robinson. “So many of these wines are from historic vineyards and come with wonderful, colorful family stories that are the fabric of American agricultural heritage,” she continues.
Mindful of travel restrictions due to the COVID 19 pandemic, virtual visits and tastings have been made available, in addition to the traditional in-person winery tastings and experiences. Visitors should contact wineries in advance about their latest visiting policies and experiences.
The Zinfandel Trail website includes an easy-to-use interactive map of California’s Zinfandel wineries for plotting and planning itineraries to vineyards across California. Here, visitors can explore Zinfandel winery experiences by region, such as vineyard and winery tours, specialized tastings, picnicking, food service, and pet-friendly policies. In addition to winery listings are featured winery to winery routes with beautiful Zinfandel vineyard images, regional travel blogs, points of interest, and winemaker stories.
In addition to the California Zinfandel Trail mapping website, ZAP is also creating virtual tours and tastings offered for sale to those wanting to sniff, swirl, and sip while enjoying a themed tour on Zoom hosted by travel experts. The first three-part series will begin in late April with a tour of Sonoma Valley, followed in May by sessions on Women in Wine and in June, Vineyard Tours.