SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stomped on a measure that would have designated zinfandel the historic wine of California.
Schwarzenegger said in a veto message issued Tuesday that the state produces many fine wines from different grape varietals and that it would be "inappropriate" to single out one for special recognition.
"It would be a shame to recognize only one as 'California's historic wine,'"' Schwarzenegger wrote.
The bill's sponsor took the news good-naturedly.
"It ought not to be a zin to be for zinfandel," quipped lawmaker Carole Migden, the measure's author. The Democrat initially proposed making zinfandel California's official state wine, but watered down the bill after California's wine industry was strongly opposed.
Zinfandel grapes date back to the state's Gold Rush days. Migden's bill states that California is the only region in the world where "Old Vine" zinfandel is found, with some vines still producing grapes after more than 100 years.
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