The History of Lodi (in five hats)
The crack of dawn, two hundred years ago: a farmer dons his hat, grabs a shovel, goes outside and digs himself a hole. And into thathole he plants a vine. A winegrape vine to be exact. The vine thrives so well and produces such excellent fruit that he plants more, asdoes the generation that comes next, and the one after, and the oneafter that. Until—well, here we are, five generations of growers laterand Lodi winegrapes are considered to be some of the finest and most coveted in all of winemaking. That’s not to say every vine here can trace its roots back to early Lodi. Why, there’s a whole range of varieties—over 100 plus—from young ten- and twenty-year-old vines to thirty- and forty-year-old middle agers: Albariño from Spain, Barbera from Italy, Dornfelder from Germany, and from the south of France, Cinsault. All thriving in perfect conditions. One day to plant. Three years to produce. Five generations to perfect. Perhaps you’ve waited long enough to try the results, no?
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 1 — before there was a Lodi
The first settlers of European descent arrived in the area we know as Lodi in 1846; finding what Ralph A. Clark (Lodi —Images of America) described as “an abundant paradise,” perched just a few feet above sea level, sandwiched between the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 2 — from Tokay to a Golden Age
The dual success of both Zinfandel and Tokay (a.k.a. Flame Tokay) in Lodi, which really began in the 1880s and lasted until the 1980s, was never just related to economics and historical circumstances. It was also always terroir related — particularly as it pertains to the sandy loam soil…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 3 — 1969, a year of big changes
1969. If you weren’t born yet, we envy your youth, but feel sorry you missed it. There were good times in 1969. There was a little thing called Woodstock, which everyone and their friends’ friends claimed to have “almost” attended. Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Sports fans…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 4 — slow transition from co-op to independent wineries
Since 1991 the grower/vintner members of the Lodi Winegrape Commission have worked diligently to fulfill one of its original mandates: raising awareness of the intrinsic quality of Lodi Viticultural Area grown wine grapes, now evidenced by the ascendant quality…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 5 — establishment of the Lodi AVA
The system of officially approved American Viticultural Areas was first established in 1978 by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) regulatory arm, allowing for the defining of viticultural areas within the U.S. for the purpose of controlled usage…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 6 — Lodi begets seven nested AVAs
In August 2006, the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) approved the usage of seven new American Viticultural Areas (a.k.a. AVAs) falling within the broader Lodi AVA. At that time, the question in the minds of a lot of people among the wine industry…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 7 — the Mokelumne River Viticultural Area
When drawing up their 2005 proposal for seven new nested sub-AVAs to submit to the TTB, the growers and vintners representing the LAVA (Lodi American Viticultural Areas) Steering Committee also included a Storie Index chart, illustrating the differences between…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 8 — Lodi’s Clements Hills, Borden Ranch and Sloughhouse Viticultural Areas
There are reasons why growers and winemakers look upon Lodi as a sum of different parts — hence, the 2005 establishment of seven nested AVAs. Most of Lodi’s growth as a wine region over the past 25 years has been outside the original area surrounding the City of Lodi…
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A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 9 — Lodi’s Jahant, Cosumnes River and Alta Mesa Viticultural Areas
The distinguishing common denominator shared by the Jahant, Cosumnes River and Alta Mesa AVAs — sandwiched between the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the west and the lower foothill appellations of Clements Hills, Borden Ranch and Sloughhouse to the east is…
