The Zin Trail Trial
The Zin trail has been the topic of many conversations throughout the wine country. It is without a doubt a hot subject, with passion flowing like garnet waves of volcanic lava from all counties. After all, some of the best zinfandels come from Napa, umm, I mean Sonoma, maybe even the Sierra Foothills? So, this month, we focus on that very unique varietal.
Well, first things first! To get in our two cents worth, Becky and I have to go way back to the roots of our ancestors, and say that the first zin actually came from the former Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik to be exact. No wonder we have a passion for this grape, I'm sure our great, great grandpa drank some with his Cevapcici and Lepini! Only he called it Crljenak Kaštelanski.
Now that our history is out of the way - let's get to the Napa/Sonoma history.
There was a Sea Captain by the name of Macondray who brought the vine from Boston. He tried to grow it in San Francisco, but too many cool morning fogs and lack of sunshine had him concluding that San Francisco was not the best region. Enter Joseph Warren Osborne, himself a Sea Captain from Massachusetts, who bought land in Napa Valley - the Oak Knoll district to be exact. Osborne grafted zinfandel onto the Mission Vines that were at 
that time very prominent in the valley - around 1852. Osborne's nursery won "Best Farm in California" in 1856 with Zinfandel playing an important role. In 1857, he won many awards for his wine and is accredited with being the original producer of Zinfandel in the Napa Valley. In 1859, he and *William Boggs took two wagon loads of grapevines from his nursery, including, to Sonoma. The rest, as they say, is history? Not quite.
Here our little story takes a morbid twist. Osborne hired laborers for his farm. One was Charles **Brittian. It was agreed that Osborne would pay Brittian a sum of $265 by check for labor at the ranch. Brittian had to go to the bank in San Francisco to cash this check. Consider what it took in 1863 to travel from Napa to San Francisco, luckily, there was a ferry that ran from Soscol Ferry Road to San Francisco, but it was a long ride, a day trip. Brittian was turned away at the bank due to lack of funds. A little frustrated, he returned to Napa and confronted Osborne, Osborne assured him it would be ok to cash the promissory note in a couple of days- so Brittian returned to San Francisco. A few days later in April Brittian went to get his money, and again was turned away. This did not improve Brittian's already tannic mood. He bought a revolver, got back on the steamer on April 18th, 1863 and headed to Napa. Across the bay, over the river, through the town, on horseback to the Oak Knoll area, he found Osborne tending to his orchard. An argument ensued. Osborne picked up a rock to hurl at Brittian.
Note: Rock, Scissors, Revolver- the revolver wins every time!
Brittian was captured. His trial in Napa (at the courthouse which was shipped around the horn – a prefab!) was short – he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. On August 7, 1863, Brittian became the first legal hanging in the County of Napa. But not the most famous! To learn about that, you'll need to go on the Segway Beyond Wine Tour!
Where is the land that was once Osborne’s ranch? Send your answer to
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for a drawing for the Beyond Wine Tour for two! Drawing will be held February 14th and winner notified by email.
*William Boggs has a fascinating history – his mom was the granddaughter of Daniel Boone! His Dad came to California, ½ his party broke off and became the historical Donner Party! I could go on, but this is about zinfandel. For more info see http://www.jwha.info/mmff/boggs.htm
**-some historic articles have “Britton”