Lodi zins conquer ZAP in the City

7,500 people can’t be wrong. Either that, or they don’t wanna be right: about loving red wines made from Zinfandel and attending three days of events dedicated to the grape at the twentieth annual Zinfandel Festival put on by ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) in San Francisco this past January 27-29.

First off, where do you fit that many wine lovers, plus all those vintners representing the 200-plus wineries showing off their stuff? ZAP’s Grand Tasting last Saturday took place in two football field sized pavilions, sitting side-by-side in Fort Mason, on the Bay looking directly at Alcatraz. Even so, it was wall-to-wall zin freaks and geeks.

ZAP’s Good Eats & Zinfandel Pairing event last Thursday night took place in just one of those pavilions, and was a more sedate affair – if you can call 1,100-plus people strolling around enjoying the wines of 50 zin specialist wineries together with dishes produced by 50 chefs sedate. That’s a whole lotta zin braised ribs and earthy, meaty canapés, no matter how you slice it.

Needless to say, many of Lodi’s finest were there, dishing it out with the best of ‘em. On Good Eats night, Lodi’s own rising star chef, Ruben Larrazolo of Alebrijes Bistro, was showing off his delectable duck with his outrageously decadent Oaxaca mole matched with the earthen, elegantly styled Zinfandels of Layne Montgomery m2 Wines; while Wine & Roses Hotel chef Didier Gerbi and co-proprietor Kathy Munson were serving up zin-friendly, Lodi wine country hors’oeuvres alongside the newly acclaimed Lodi grown Zinfandels of McCay Cellars.

Klinker Brick’s Steve and Lori Felten as well as Macchia Wines’ Tim and Lani Holdener were also at Good Eats; the latter couple, matching their deep, pectoral zins with classic barbecue served over their customary tie-dyed tablecloth (chortled Lani, “there always has to be one loud, obnoxious grape in the bunch, and it might as well be us…”).

If you missed the 2011 San Francisco ZAP, did you miss a good party? Goodness, yes; although goodness may have had nothing to do with it. But there’s always next year, or – leaf roll, please – Lodi’s very own annual Zinfest, taking place this coming May 13-14 in the pristine riparian setting of Lodi Lake Park. Zin lovers, mark your calendars!

Some tasting notes on some of the outstanding Lodi reds wowing the zin lovers at last week’s ZAP:

2008 Brazin, Lodi (B)Old Vine Zinfandel ($16) – Unabashedly lush, intense berry aromas, and we mean the entire jammy mix, from blackberry and blueberry to smidgens of bright, zesty raspberry sandwiched in between. These fruit forward sensations are wrapped in a velvety, meaty, moderately full yet not overly weighty mouth-feel, lingering in a finish tinged with roasted coffee and brown spices.

2009 Fields Family, Sherman Family Vineyard Lodi Zinfandel ($24) – Like McCay, this was Fields Family’s first appearance a ZAP as one of Lodi’s newest wineries. For a first release, their ’09 Zinfandel is stupendous, and has been expanding in leaps and bounds over the past few months: last week, already showing a starburst of brambly raspberryish fruit and cinnamon/clove spices, lush and lively on the palate – the texturing velvet-smooth, and the flavors juicy, with mouth watering zest.

2008 Harney Lane, Lodi Zinfandel ($22) – Although made from 40% Primitivo – a more evenly ripening, hence softer, more pliant clonal variation of Zinfandel – there is plenty enough rich, gushy Zinfandel qualities to go around in this wine. The nose is bright and red – like crushed raspberry/cherry – and the lush, juicy flavors are round and bouncy, couched in a zesty, medium weight body, unfettered by excess tannin or oak.

2009 LangeTwins, Lewis Vineyard Lodi Zinfandel (barrel sample) – One of the fun things about events like ZAP is wineries showing off barrel samples; like this exciting single vineyard bottling produced from a 100 year old vineyard on the eastern side of the Mokelumne River AVA off Victor Rd., which will be bottled in the spring. The nose is huge, suggesting wild berries and cranberry, and on the palate, the flavors are an absolute cherry bomb explosion, emanating from a sleek, viscous, medium-full body, intertwined with cinnamon and peppermint spices in a ridiculously long finish. Lodi zin lovers: keep your eye out for this one!

2008 m2 Wines, Artist Series Lodi Zinfandel ($35) – This modern day Lodi classic was showing super-spicy, almost exotic perfumes last week, emanating from a core of crushed, wild berry fruit underpinned by scrubby, dried forest leaf tertiary aromas. The feel is broad, velvety and fleshy, beefed up by generous yet perfectly rounded tannins, finishing with sensations of black and red berries dipped in chocolate, with whiffs of smoky Chinese opium dens (that is, what we imagine that to be). Need we say more?

2009 Macchia, Oblivous Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel ($24) – Macchia has become so popular recently that its ‘08s are pretty much sold out, and their ‘09s are what they are currently putting out. This means extremely young, mouthy wines, somewhat lean and tight, slapping you across the palate. Macchia disciples relish Oblivious as one of the Holdeners’ wildest, most concentrated single vineyard selections – coming, as it does, from one of Lodi’s rare, dry farmed plantings, approximately a 100 years old, yielding as little as a ton per acre (a quarter of what most of Lodi’s old vine vineyards give) – and right now this wine is showing tightly wound raspberry notes and a big, chunky, tannin dominated structure. Even so, the fruit is forward, almost sweet on the tongue; but given another six to twelve months, it should begin to stretch out nicely, with the satiny touch for which Macchia zins are known.

2009 St. Amant, Marian’s Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel ($24) – Lodi zin lovers have affectionately called the 110 year old Marian’s block in Mohr-Fry Ranch the “Mother of all Zins,” and St. Amant’s ’09 solidifies that lofty reputation: the nose is of dark berry jam and drippingly sweet Santa Rosa plum, without being raisiny or overripe, with smoky oak subtleties. On the palate, “opulence” is what comes to mind; the intense fruit coming at you in dense, liquid waves, yet well rounded, finishing with loamy terroir and Christmas spices, hinting at peppermint and bay laurel. Classic.