What is terroir, and why is everyone talking about it? When writing about why Lodi was chosen as their 2015 Wine Region of the Year, Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Jim Gordon cited a number of achievements; including how the region has recently achieved “parity with better-known coastal regions,” yet how “grapes and wine were already in…
It may be summer, but that doesn’t mean every wine aficionado is reaching for white or pink wines. Red wine lovers are red wine lovers, and they’re not going to let little things like 90-degree temperatures keep them from enjoying their preference. Oh, they may make little adjustments, like going to slightly lighter reds; or…
Next month on August 11 through 13, 2016, Lodi wine country will be invaded by several hundred online wine scribes gathering for the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference. This will be a “9th Annual” – earlier Wine Bloggers Conferences, starting in 2008, happening in places like Santa Rosa, Portland, Walla Walla, New York’s Finger Lakes, Charlottesville…
Lodi is, like, weird. That is to say, this sprawling wine region (by far the largest in the U.S., with over 100,000 acres of planted wine grapes, and counting…) is led by an organization of grape growers and wineries collectively known as the Lodi Winegrape Commission. Pursuant to the State of California Department of Food…
What do Americans eat during summer? If you go to Sunset Magazine’s latest page proclaiming Fast & Fresh Summer Meals, you find a list of over three-dozen dishes with recipes for • Grilled cilantro and pistachio pesto shrimp skewers • Za’atar (Middle East herbs) and lemon grilled chicken • Grilled salmon with mustard-wine sauce •…
The ideal dry rosè is scented but not overly fruity in the nose; fluid and a little fleshy in the mouth without being soft, hard or harsh with excess alcohol or tannin; and nuanced with sensory qualities other than plain fruit, like smidgens of kitchen herbs or minerals. In recent years, as Lodi’s small community…
It’s not quite July; yet summer, evidently, is already in full swing, at least in The Golden State. If you’re near a beach, life can be a peach. If you have a pool, then you’re just way cool. But if you have neither, and are relegated to life on a patio, under a shady tree…
What happens when a Pinot Noir specialist gets ahold of Zinfandel from a primo ancient vine planting in Lodi? Basically two things: • A very delicate, silky, perfumed, and yes, Pinot Noir-like Zinfandel – a virtual opposite of the big, blustery, jammy style of red wine more closely identified with the “varietal.” • A Zinfandel…
There is a new “boss” in town at The Lucas Winery on Lodi’s west side: Mitra Lucas, who has just recently taken over winery management; although she prefers to refer to herself simply as “Owner & Daughter.” “She may fire me yet,” said David Lucas this past weekend, with the familiar puckish glint in his…
Long known as one of the world’s greatest “food wines” because of its higher than average acidity – think of what vinegar does for oil, how lime makes a ceviche, or how a simple squeeze of lemon over seafood or even a slice of beef immensely improves a dish – the black skinned Barbera grape…
One of the brands used by Holman Cellars, a micro-winery based in Napa Valley, is called Uncharted – an apt description of the Lodi grown white wine presented by owner/winemaker Jason Holman at a winemakers’ lunch and tasting in Mokelumne Glen Vineyards this past Saturday (June 4, 2016). The wine in question: the 2015 Uncharted…
At first sniff and sip, the 2015 Oak Farm Vineyards Lodi Chardonnay ($25) tastes like many other well made Chardonnays with its airy sense of freshness and the creamy smoothness of its modestly full, seamless, silken textured body. But then the subtleties begin to add up to something a little “different.” A mild, Meyer lemon…
The advantages of a micro-sized – that is, an artisanal or “boutique” – winery can also be disadvantages. It’s good to be small because you can lavish far more attention on 2 to 6 barrels of a wine than you can on 2000 to 6000 barrels; which is the difference between a winery like PRIE…
Graciano is a black skinned grape from Spain, prized for centuries for the deep pigmentation, rich aroma and dense quality it gives to red wines, especially when blended with grapes like Tempranillo. But unlike Tempranillo – which, according to Ana Fabiano in her book The Wine Region of Rioja (©2012, Sterling Epicure), accounts for about…
110 years ago – on November 27, 1906, to be precise – an election was held in Lodi (population 2,000 at that time) to incorporate as a City. Finally, as local historian Toni Christman puts it in Our Time to Shine (2012), “citizens were well on their way to respectability.” As with most rural American…
Are Lodi wine lovers different? We think so. At least judging from over 4,000 of them who entered through the gates to Lodi Lake Park to enjoy the 2016 Lodi ZinFest Wine Festival this past Saturday, May 14. What we saw were peeps looking to enjoy wine without a speck of attitude, pretension or self-consciousness,…
– The Jacksons It may be all about the luscious, juicy Zinfandel, crisply balanced Albariño, powerful Petite Sirah, suave and earthy Tempranillo, and dozens of other styles of wine among the 200-plus bottlings that will be poured for your sampling pleasure at this Saturday’s Lodi ZinFest Wine Festival (May 14, 2016, 12 to 5 PM),…
OMG, the 2016 Lodi ZinFest Wine Festival is this weekend, on Saturday, May 14! What is good wine without food? As the late, great wine sage Andre Simon put it, “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost; united and well matched they are as body and soul, living partners.” Amen,…
If you are a wine lover between 30 and 38, there is now a target on your back. But congratulations, because you are now officially the largest and most important age group to wine producers, who are scrambling to adjust their marketing as well as products to suit your preferences as we speak. At least…
When recently tasting through the latest bottlings of dry style rosés grown in Lodi, we could not help but notice a few common threads, despite the variety of grapes from which the better ones are crafted: 1. Lodi’s dry rosés are getting lighter, which is a good thing. As warm spring weather transitions into summer…
Next month’s Lodi ZinFest Wine Festival (Saturday, May 14, 12-5 PM) will be chock-full of opportunities for Lodi wine lovers experience things they love most (like barbecued foods and wines) or to expand their wine knowledge with the guidance of two of the state’s most respected sommelier/educators, under the cozy tent of our ZinFest Wine…
Lodi artist and businessman Tony Segale – who has also been profiled by Lodi News-Sentinel as “Lodi’s best-known sign painter” – lives in the original, longtime home of the Mondavi family, just two block west of Downtown Lodi’s main drag (School Street). Yes, that Mondavi family: Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, who moved to Lodi from…
ZinFest Wine Festival – by far, Lodi’s biggest yearly event – is just a motion away: Saturday, May 14, 2016 (12-5 PM), taking place on the lush, dreamy peninsula between Lodi Lake and the Mokelumne River, where towering oaks, willows and riparian brush and birdlife set the table for a natural love-in feel to this…
The entire concept of “boutique winery” is that when winemaking is done on such a small scale – as little as a few hundred cases a year – attention to detail is a given. It becomes more possible to produce wines of exquisite quality – “handcrafted” in the best sense of the word. On the…