The Wine Group

The story

Why 7 Deadly Zins Has Its Name

Michael and David Phillips conceived 7 Deadly Zins as a play on the seven deadly sins, drawing on their Catholic-school upbringing. The phrase also fitted the first wine’s vineyard material: the grapes came from seven old-vine Zinfandel vineyards. The brothers joined the religious reference to that count of vineyards and put 7 Deadly Zins on the label. Michael David Winery later sold the brand to The Wine Group. Today, 7 Deadly Zinfandel remains tied to Lodi fruit, with American and French oak bringing caramel, toasted-oak and spice notes around dark berry and strawberry-jam fruit.

Why 7 Deadly Zins Has Its Name

Michael and David Phillips conceived 7 Deadly Zins as a play on the seven deadly sins, drawing on their Catholic-school upbringing. The phrase also fitted the first wine’s vineyard material: the grapes came from seven old-vine Zinfandel vineyards. The brothers joined the religious reference to that count of vineyards and put 7 Deadly Zins on the label. Michael David Winery later sold the brand to The Wine Group. Today, 7 Deadly Zinfandel remains tied to Lodi fruit, with American and French oak bringing caramel, toasted-oak and spice notes around dark berry and strawberry-jam fruit.

From the atlas

The Wine Group

At A Glance

• Founded in 1981; headquartered in Livermore, California.
• A corporate producer and brand owner, not a single estate or appellation.
• More than 125 brands, over 15,000 vineyard acres and more than 45 million cases globally.
• 7 Deadly Zinfandel connects the company to Lodi fruit, old-vine history and American/French oak.
• California-produced wines, producing wineries and owned or operated vineyards are California Certified Sustainable.

The Producer

The Wine Group is a California wine and beverage company built around brands rather than one vineyard address. Livermore is its corporate base, while the bottles in its portfolio come from different places and wine traditions. Its scale—more than 125 brands, over 15,000 vineyard acres and more than 45 million cases globally—means a Lodi Zinfandel, a California Cabernet and a lightly sweet Riesling can sit under the same company umbrella while remaining distinct wines.

Its stated position as the world’s second-largest wine supplier helps explain that breadth. The useful question is not whether all its wines resemble one another, but which brand carries a clear connection between grape, source and method. For that, 7 Deadly Zinfandel is the most legible bottle: Zinfandel fruit from Lodi, vines trained in more than one way, and oak maturation that shapes the wine’s dark-fruited, spicy profile.

Place

Livermore identifies the company’s headquarters, not a company-wide wine appellation. Lodi, in California’s Central Valley, belongs specifically to 7 Deadly wines. That distinction matters on the label: a 7 Deadly Zinfandel speaks to Lodi-sourced fruit, whereas The Wine Group’s wider portfolio includes wines with separate origins and production histories.

For 7 Deadly Zinfandel, the Lodi AVA is the wine place to follow. Zinfandel is the grape, Lodi is the named source, and the result is a red built around rich berry fruit and jammy depth rather than the blackcurrant-led profile of Lynx Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine’s American and French oak maturation adds toasted, caramel and spice notes around that fruit.

Soil And Site

The supported site detail is practical rather than geological. 7 Deadly Zinfandel draws on Lodi vineyards with both head-trained and trellised vines; no soil type, slope or elevation is established. Those training systems point to a wine assembled from more than one vineyard setting, with Zinfandel’s ripe fruit taking the lead and oak supplying a fuller frame.

Lodi’s role should stay with 7 Deadly rather than being stretched across the portfolio. The company owns or operates vineyards elsewhere in California, but a California Cabernet or Riesling cannot be assigned Lodi ground without a bottle-specific source. In the glass, that keeps the comparison useful: Zinfandel’s dark berry and spice are tied to its named Lodi expression, not treated as a house flavour.

Story

The business began within Coca-Cola Bottling of New York, then changed course through a leveraged buyout in 1981. By 1984 it was privately held and executive-owned. That corporate turn created a company able to build and acquire wine brands, so its present work is expressed through individual labels and wine styles rather than through one family estate’s parcels.

The portfolio expanded again in 2025, when The Wine Group acquired several brands, three facilities and approximately 6,600 California vineyard acres from Constellation Brands. Cook’s, J. Rogét, Meiomi, Robert Mondavi Private Selection and Woodbridge joined the group. The transaction enlarged the range of bottles and California sources, while it does not establish a change in the taste or method of any one wine.

Vineyards And Cellar

Across its California operations, The Wine Group reports California Certified Sustainable status for its producing wineries, California-produced wines and owned or operated vineyards. Owl boxes and hawk perches are used for natural pest management; drip irrigation works with solar-powered sensors; steam cleaning, solar electricity and reuse of grape material as livestock feed form part of the same operating approach. These are farming and winery practices, not a promise that every bottle will taste alike.

The clearest bottle-level cellar detail belongs to 7 Deadly Zinfandel. American and French oak maturation wraps Lodi Zinfandel fruit in caramel, leather, toasted-oak and spice notes, while the palate is described as smooth and velvety. Lynx Cabernet Sauvignon also shows oak’s mark, with coffee and dark-chocolate notes alongside blackcurrant and plum, but its duration in barrel and barrel mix are not established.

Wines

The range is architectural rather than estate-based. Franzia, Cupcake Vineyards, Benziger Family Winery, Almaden, Imagery Estate and Trapiche are among the named brands, and the 2025 additions broadened the group further. Within that scale, the wines can be read by style: 7 Deadly Zinfandel is a ripe, oak-shaped Lodi red; Lynx Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 is a concentrated, full-bodied California Cabernet; Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2023 is an intensely fresh, fruity white with slight sweetness.

7 Deadly Zinfandel carries dark berry and strawberry-jam fruit, with caramel, leather and toasted oak on the aromatic side. Lynx Cabernet moves toward blackcurrant, plum, coffee and dark chocolate, with more Cabernet weight and tannin. Kung Fu Girl Riesling changes the register completely: pear, honey, green apple, kiwi and lime sit in a fresher, lightly sweet frame, where fruit and acidity take the place of red-wine grip.

In The Glass

Start with 7 Deadly Zinfandel’s aroma: dark berry, strawberry jam, caramel, leather and toasted oak. The palate follows with rich fruit, spice and a smooth, velvety texture because American and French oak mature the Lodi Zinfandel. Its finish stays broad and warm, with oak spice and ripe fruit rather than sharp acidity at the centre.

Lynx Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 brings blackcurrant and plum into a full-bodied palate, while oak contributes freshly ground coffee and dark chocolate. The texture is more concentrated and firmer than the Zinfandel, with Cabernet tannin giving the fruit a darker, more structured finish. Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2023 then offers pear, honey, green apple, kiwi and lime; slight sweetness softens its fresh acidity, leaving a lighter-bodied, fruit-forward finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose 7 Deadly Zinfandel. It joins the company’s broad brand model to a specific wine source: Lodi Zinfandel from head-trained and trellised vineyards, matured in American and French oak. Expect dark berry and strawberry-jam fruit, caramel, leather, toasted oak and spice, followed by a smooth, velvety palate and a rich finish. It comes first because grape, place, vine training and oak all appear in one supported bottle story.

Anecdote

Michael and David Phillips conceived 7 Deadly Zins as a wordplay on the seven deadly sins, a reference to their Catholic-school upbringing. The original wine was not named from a vague marketing idea: its grapes came from seven old-vine Zinfandel vineyards. The brothers put the number in the vineyard story beside the religious phrase, and the label became 7 Deadly Zins. Michael David Winery later sold the brand to The Wine Group, where the name continues on a Lodi-sourced Zinfandel matured in American and French oak.

Final Word

The Wine Group is easiest to understand through a bottle with a defined wine address rather than through its overall size. 7 Deadly Zinfandel turns Lodi fruit, old-vine history and oak maturation into dark berry, spice and a velvety red palate; Lynx Cabernet and Kung Fu Girl Riesling show how far the portfolio can move from that starting point.

Sources

• https://www.thewinegroup.com/
• https://www.thewinegroup.com/about-us/
• https://www.thewinegroup.com/stewardship/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheWineGroup
• https://www.7deadlywines.com/
• https://bottlereport.com/7-deadly-cab-joins-clever-7-deadly-zins-cousin/
• https://www.lynxwines.com/our-wines/cabernet-sauvignon/
• https://www.7deadlywines.com/wine/zinfandel/
• https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/kung-fu-girl-269007/