To truly grasp Lodi grown Zinfandels—or Zinfandels from anywhere else, for that matter—it helps to understand how they compare with Zinfandels from other California wine regions. The problem is, you cannot trust everything you read or are told about Zinfandels. While generally well meaning, many journalists simply repeat what they themselves are told about the…
The single most famous photograph in the annals of Americana is undoubtedly that of the “Migrant Mother,” taken in 1936 by Dorothea Lange (1895-1965). Not so famous are the few photos taken by Lange of Japanese American faces and farms in Lodi, for a brief time in 1942. Lange was operating a portrait studio in…
A sensory celebration Look out, it’s that time of year again! The 2025 Lodi Wine & Chocolate Weekend takes place Saturday/Sunday, February 15-16. This yearly celebration is by far Lodi wine country‘s most popular event. Why? Because it gives wine lovers the opportunity to taste a wide range of bottlings grown in a historic region…
It is almost funny that blended wines⏤wines made from multiple grapes⏤are so popular these days. For years and years the wine industry has been trying to convince consumers that the finest wines, at least those grown in America, are made from primarily one grape. These are called varietal wines. To be bottled as a varietal…
“Wine, women and song… why reinvent the wheel?” That’s the writing on a wall I once saw in Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace. While there was undoubtedly wine and singing aplenty in the historical Caesar’s era, a little reading shows that the expression first became popular in Germany, during the early 1800s. Aren’t you glad you…
Let’s start off 2025 talking about something a lot of wine geeks seem to have little use for. Wine in the context of food. Every ten or twenty years, or so it seems, the anti-food factions seem to pop up in the winosphere. Old-timers can even remember back in the 1980s when the famed wine…
Part 2 of Sobering thoughts at the start of 2025⏤The state of the American wine industry Since overall wine consumption began showing a statistical decline in 2022, all eyes have been on the youngest segment of demographic cohorts, identified as Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012. The general feeling, based on market research, is…
The business of Lodi is grapes. In fact, the region’s climate and soils are so ideal for the cultivation of grapevines, Lodi has become the largest winegrowing region in America. To what extent? According to most recent USDA reports, the Lodi AVA (i.e., Crush District 11) crushes approximately 20.5% of all wine grapes grown in…
As this year draws to its end, We give thanks for the gifts it brought And how they became inlaid within Where neither time nor tide can touch them The days when the veil lifted And the soul could see delight When a quiver caressed the heart In the sheer exuberance of being here Surprises…
Hooray, we’re getting close to a New Year! This calls, of course, for a good champagne. It’s that time of year when we want to hear that pop and fizz, and feel the icy taste of tart, bubbly, foamy wine to mark the end of a year and start of a brand new one… especially…
Just seven more days of Christmas shopping. There is plenty of time if you are living in or within striking distance of Lodi wine country to pick up top-of-the-line bottlings from the local wineries. Another great one-stop-shopping idea: The Lodi Wine Visitor Center, located at the corner of W. Turner and Lower Sacramento Roads (on…
Guest post by Lisa Waterman Gray Today’s Lodi Wine post gives props to Lisa Waterman Gray for her excellent elucidation of LODI RULES, Lodi’s industry leading sustainable program. More than ever, environmentally conscious consumers are prioritizing sustainability as a factor in their choices of wines—one of the vestiges of climate change. Ms. Gray’s article on…
Guest post by Bob Highfill Lodi Wine welcomes guest contributor Bob Highfill, asked to share his personal list of “2024’s ten most interesting wines” grown in Lodi because of his unique perspective. Bob himself might cite his prior experience as a newspaper wine columnist for Stockton’s The Record, a brief stint as Marketing and Communications…
Time to go back and take a gander at some of 2024’s most informative blogs and articles pertaining to Lodi‘s wines and winegrowing industry. Because the Lodi AVA (i.e., American Viticultural Area) is easily America’s largest grape growing region, it is also emblematic of all the challenges currently facing the entire American wine industry. Essentially,…
Guest post by Anna Delgado Let’s welcome guest columnist Anna Delgado, who will introduce us to three outstanding “young guns” in the Lodi wine scene: A head winemaker (Marilia Nimis-Schrader), a brilliant up-and-coming winemaker (Jesus Aleman), and a promising sommelier (Jacob Weisman). We first introduced Anna Delgado this past July in a post co-written by…
To me, Lodi wine country is like a gigantic canvas for Mother Nature: There is no end to the beauty capturable, to some extent (although it’s always more compelling seen through your own eyes!), by a camera. Yet the pictures tell a story; more often than not, more vividly than how it can be described…
First things first. You may have heard, or maybe just assumed, that appreciating wine is complicated. That it takes an “expert” to truly understand and enjoy wines. I have just one word to say about that: Untrue. Anyone who tells you wine is complicated has no idea what he or she is talking about. Let…
‘Tis the season for family traditions, starting with Thanksgiving. Over the past decade and a half a number of local Lodi vintners have contributed favorite family recipes served, almost religiously, at each and every Thanksgiving celebration. This year we are recapping some of the more interesting recipes, along with thoughts on ideal Lodi grown wines…
There is an old saying I never quite understood, which goes: “The past is a place to learn from, not to live in.” Yes, of course, we learn from the past, especially mistakes, big and small. But in many places of the world, we also live in the past. Like people do in Florence, Italy….
Continued from What is Lodi terroir? (Part 4, How terroir focused wines are made) Lodi grown wines that prioritize sensory qualities expressing terroir or “sense of place”—be it a specific vineyard or an appellation or sub-appellation (i.e., an AVA within an AVA)—over varietal character or brand style are now more numerous than you may think….
Continued from What is Lodi terroir? (part 3, Soil and topography) The difference between commercial and terroir focused styles of varietals Terroir focused wines are wines that are meant to taste like the vineyards or regions where they are grown more than anything else. Commercial style wines, on the other hand, are produced primarily to…
Continued from What is Lodi terroir? (Part 2, Mediterranean climate) 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 (originally recognized in 1986): • Alta Mesa • Borden Ranch • Clements Hills • Cosumnes River…
Continued from What is Lodi terroir? (Part 1, Definition) Impact of Delta breezes on Loditerroir Because it falls within a watershed immediately east of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta draining directly into San Pablo Bay (the northern extension of San Francisco Bay), the terroir of entire Lodi Viticultural Area in terms of climate is defined…
What is terroir? Out of respect for this concept’s French origin, I prefer to italicize the word, although you don’t have to, since it’s now co-opted into the English language like many other French words (such as élevage, café, chef, sommelier, apéritif, petite, haute couture, de rigueur, et al.). But be careful how you use…