Zinfandel Advocates and Producers

The Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) is a consortium of over 200 winemakers and grape growers, as well as thousands of consumers, with the purpose of advocating, preserving, and educating about the Zinfandel grape. Started in 1991, the organizational structure of combining wine enthusiasts with wine producers served as a successful template for other wine-related organizations, such as the Rhone Rangers. ZAP is reported to be one of the largest consumer-based wine advocacy groups in the world.

The organization's primary functions are:

The California wine industry shifted from an emphasis on low-cost bulk wine production to a region capable of creating world-class wines after the Judgment of Paris in 1976, where a California Cabernet Sauvignon (Stags Leap Cellars) and a California Chardonnay (Chateau Montelena) were judged to be superior to some of the best French Bordeaux and Burgundies by French wine experts at a tasting in Paris. The result gave credibility to the California wine industry, especially to the classic French varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay.

Much of the Zinfandel grapes grown previously ended up either in jug wines, such as Gallo Hearty Burgundy, or in White Zinfandel, a sweet blush wine made from the red Zinfandel grape. However, there was a small group of dedicated winemakers who saw the potential for making a full-bodied premium wine from red Zinfandel, such as Paul Draper from Ridge Vineyards and Joel Peterson from Ravenswood.

The full-bodied red Zinfandels had developed a dedicated following among wine consumers and interest in these wines expanded. In 1992 a group of 22 Zinfandel winemakers formed the new organization called Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) and held a tasting at the Mandarin Hotel in San Francisco. The wineries that participated in this inaugural tasting were Amador Foothill, Burgess Cellars, Chestnut Hill, Cline Cellars, Deer Park, Fetzer, Green & Red, Grgich Hills, Karly, Mark West, Meeker, Montevina, Preston, Ravenswood, Ridge Vineyards, Rosenblum Cellars, Santino, Sausal, Shenandoah, Storybook Mountain Vineyards, Sutter Home and Whaler.

The public tasting in San Francisco became an annual event, soon moving to Fort Mason and became known as ZAP’s Zinfandel Festival. With attendees traveling to this event from all over the country, ZAP expanded the Zinfandel Festival into several days of seminars and events with the main tasting attracting over 10,000 wine consumers. The additional events constituting the Zinfandel Festival included a Winemaker Dinner and Auction, a day of comparative tasting seminars called "Flights", and an evening pairing event matching dishes from dozens of fine restaurants with dozens of Zinfandels.

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