A state legislature bill passed this month qualifying Zinfandel as California's 'historic wine' looks set to become law. Known as Primitivo in Italy with origins in Croatia, Zinfandel was brought to California in the mid-19th century.

"We recognise it for what it is, unique to California and with the oldest wines anywhere in the state," Carlos Machado, an assistant to Senator Carole Midgen, who originally drafted the bill, told Decanter.com.

California is "the only place in the world to find old vine Zinfandel, where a few growers in the Sierra Nevada Foothills continue a tradition that began in the Gold Rush," says the bill. Some, however, have reason to oppose the bill which now awaits the signature of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to become law. The Napa Valley Grape Growers Association says that California should not limit itself to one flagship variety.

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