Everything you need to know about Assyrtiko, a Lodi wine of the future

Perlegos Family grown Assyrtiko, tailor made for Lodi's Mediterranean climate and sun.

A white wine of the (near) future

Prediction: In about 25 years time, Assyrtiko will become a major grape of the Lodi wine region. 

Not "major," mind you, in the same way as high-demand wine industry grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. According to the most recent California Grape Acreage Report (April 2024), there are currently 14,102 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 12,191 acres of Chardonnay cultivated in the Lodi appellation (classified as District 11 by the USDA)...

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Small scale independents working out of Lodi Crush produce exciting alternative style wines

The line-up of minimal intervention, small, independent winemakers working out of Lodi Crush: from left, Adam Saake (Perch Wine Co.), Adam Sabelli-Frisch (Sabelli-Frisch), Rose Nemet (Kareen Wine), Terah Bajjalieh (Terah Wine Co.), Greg Nemet (Kareen Wine) and Gerardo Espinosa (Lodi Crush and Anaya Vineyards).

Lodi Crush has become a magnet for small, independent wine brands⏤primarily one- or two-person operations⏤who, almost as a rule, prefer minimal intervention, alternative style wines appealing to the growing minority of oenophiles who prefer less commercialized, almost raw tasting wines. 

For the most part, this subset of handcraft artisans also look for grapes that are farmed in organic fashion. This approach to viticulture is all part of this growing culture⏤low intervention farming, after all, goes hand in hand with low intervention winemaking⏤which is also becoming increasingly important to consumers who specifically seek out products produced with some sense of environmental responsibility...

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Intriguing batch of alternative style wines bringing new sensations to the appellation

2024 Charbono harvest in Lodi's WOO GIRL! estate.

Every year it's the same. Fall seeps into your veins like a transfusion. The palate reawakens. Not that it was comatose during the summer months. It's just alerted to new sensations.

Lou Reed once wrote a song about renewed outlooks on life, called "New Sensations"—not so much about a change in seasons as change of scenery. In Reed's song, it's about taking his motorcycle out into the hills where he can feel the icy sting of the air as it slaps the cheeks; where a burger, a coke and a "hillbilly song" coming out of a jukebox in a roadside diner suddenly seems almost revelatory, as he muses...

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