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Hello there! I'm Dr. Vinifera, or "Vinny" for short. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the technical aspects of winemaking to the fine points of etiquette. I hope you find my answers educational and even amusing. Looking for a particular answer? Check my archive and my FAQs.

Dear Dr. Vinny,

I would like to applaud you for taking it easy on the white Zinfandel question. You admitted the cheapness of the wine itself while giving the questioner other options in the form of dry rosés and other rosé varietals. But it is important to be honest. White Zinfandel is a cheap, underhanded way for wineries to appeal to the non-wine-drinking public. Thank you for making yourself clear.

—Chad F., Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Dear Chad,

Not sure if you’re agreeing with me or trying to correct me (or both), but white Zinfandel accounts for something like 10 percent of all the wine sold in the United States. I certainly consider the people who drink it part of the “wine-drinking public.” Just because it doesn’t align with my own tastes doesn’t make it wrong, nor do I find anything “underhanded” about a segment of the market that knows what it likes, or the producers that make a wine to appeal to their tastes.

—Dr. Vinny

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