Letters from Lodi
An insightful and objective look at viticulture and winemaking from the Lodi
Appellation and the growers and vintners behind these crafts. Told from the
perspective of multi-award winning wine journalist, Randy Caparoso.
Onesta releases wines from Lodi’s oldest historic vineyard
This past May there was much ado about a wine event taking place in Healdsburg called the Seven % Solution, highlighting wines made from grapes other than the 93% (such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc.) to which most of California’s vineyards are planted.
Although the emphasis of Seven % Solution was on the products of wineries sourcing from California’s North Coast, the grapes that were celebrated happened to be grapes that are also planted extensively in Lodi: including Sémillon, Montepulciano, Chenin Blanc, Picpoul, Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Mourvèdre, Vermentino, Counoise, Barbera, Cinsaut, Carignan, St. Laurent, Albarinõ, Tinta Cão, Tourigna Nacional, and Verdelho...
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Jun 21, 2013 at 8:46 AM
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Ripken’s award winning Pinot Noir, home grown in the Delta
Attention, fine wine shoppers: Lodi is now growing some first class Pinot Noir!
At least, this is what a discriminating panel thought about the 2010 Ripken Vineyards Lodi Pinot Noir ($20) when they awarded it a Gold medal and “Best of Class (of Lodi)” earlier this month, during the judging process of the 2013 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.
Continue » Jun 19, 2013 at 8:42 AM
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Six sexy Lodi rosés for summer sips and nibbles
Nothing screams “summer” better than a good, well chilled bottle of rosé, and American grown rosés are hotter than ever.
Just ask Randy Lange, co-founder/co-owner (with brother Brad) of Lodi Wine Country’s LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards. The family’s 2012 LangeTwins Family Lodi Sangiovese Rosé ($14) is dry as a bone, yet stunningly lush, bright and juicy. “The good news,” says Lange, “is that our 2012 Sangiovese Rosé is a wonderful wine to drink right now, in the heat of summer. The bad news is that the wine sold out in a matter of days after it was released, so even we don’t have any left to enjoy this summer.”
Continue » Jun 11, 2013 at 8:37 AM
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A Master Sommelier talks ZinFest wine and cheese
In this blogpost, we have a guest writer: San Francisco’s Catherine Fallis MS. MS stands for Master Sommelier, which is a lofty title. According to the Court of Master Sommeliers Web site, only 133 wine professionals in North America have earned the title of Master Sommelier. Of those, 114 are men and only 19 are women (Fallis earned her MS in 1997, among the first 6 women to do so). Only 201 Master Sommeliers in the entire world have earned this title since the first Master Sommelier Diploma Exam was administered, back in 1969 in the U.K. (between the mid-seventies and early eighties, the first 5 American Master Sommeliers had buy their own plane ticket to London to take the exam).
Besides being a widely published wine writer and founder of Planet Grape LLC, Ms. Fallis (a.k.a. “grape goddess”) is on the faculty of the San Francisco Wine School, and has taught at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (Napa Valley). She was so thrilled to be part of the 2013 ZinFest that she composed a piece summarizing her thoughts on the experience.
Continue » Jun 6, 2013 at 8:33 AM
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