Letters from Lodi

Days are shorter, darker, gloomier. So it’s always something of a relief that the holidays are also upon us: we’re cheered colorful, twinkling lights, sounds like the opening notes of Jingle Bell Rock, smells of cooking spices emanating from the kitchen, and the rich, velvety taste of a good red wine. Especially Merlot. That is,…

Since establishing their first vineyards in Lodi in the early nineties, Markus and Liz Bokisch have laid down roots in Northern San Joaquin Valley that have become as deep as anyone’s. They now own, co-own or manage over 2,200 acres of wine grapes, with another 900 acres in development. Although the Bokischs grow the most…

The holidays are the one time of year when it’s “okay” to cut loose with all your favorite dishes; complimented, of course, by terrific wine… Including great sweet wines to enjoy with desserts – who doesn’t love that? Your Aunt Gladys and Uncle Boyd, your brother the wine geek, your sister the foodie, mom who…

One of Lodi‘s newest winemakers – so new, she doesn’t officially start working for Bokisch Vineyards until this coming December 2 – is already showing a magic touch with Lodi grown grapes. A touch that grew out of a long and steady pursuit of her passion – first for unusually aromatic wines, and then for…

While American wine lovers are familiar with Syrah – often sold as Shiraz on Australian labels – the popularity of this grape as a varietal red wine has been on a notable wane in recent years. Petite Sirah, on the other hand, has become more popular than ever. It is not the same grape as…

In a recent article appearing in Decanter – a U.K. based publication that bills itself as the “world’s best wine magazine” (and perhaps it is) – a critic named Andrew Jefford related a recent experience comparing two red wines made from the same grape (Tannat), one from Lodi and one from South-West France: A couple…

There is a memorable story in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, told by the character of the faithful Sancho Panza, concerning the great wine connoisseurs in his family; particularly, two on his father’s side who were once challenged to identify an anonymous wine from a barrel. The first one brought the wine to the tip of his…

Continuation from The Mystery of Zinfandel, part 1 – a plot as thick as the wine Did you know that the first winery to produce a rosé, or pink colored “White Zinfandel,” from the black skinned Zinfandel grape was Lodi‘s El Pinal Winery – way back in 1869? El Pinal did not survive Prohibition, and…

For the longest time, Zinfandel was known as California’s “mystery grape.” It has also been long considered an “all-American” varietal; since as far as anyone knew, Zinfandel wasn’t grown anywhere else in the world. Make that “all-California,” because virtually all of it is grown in the state of California – and most of that, in…

Macchia Wines, which produces more single-vineyard Zinfandels than any other winery in Lodi, has just released their first-ever bottling of Primitivo: the 2012 Macchia Lodi Primitivo ($24) – a full bodied yet smooth, mildly tart edged red wine that has something of an “Italian” feel in its bright, upbeat, drink-me-with-food qualities. But like a good…

Lodi grows a greater variety of grapes than any other wine region in California, but Zinfandel is still the specialty – the pièce de resistance. Tegan Passalacqua, the grower/winemaker of Turley Wine Cellars, manages his company’s Zinfandel plantings in Lodi, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Paso Robles, as well as Contra Costa and Amador County. So…

Zinfandel, as everyone knows, has always been Lodi‘s big schtick; which is why it’s easy to forget that this American Viticultural Area is easily California‘s largest grower of grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Lodi, in fact, crushes more Cabernet Sauvignon than Napa and Sonoma combined. Where does all this Cabernet Sauvignon go? Most of…

Except for three strategically placed grape leaves, the depiction of the “hot babe” pin-up on the inaugural bottling of the 2012 Zin-Phomaniac Lodi Zinfandel (about $18) leaves little to the imagination. And the back label makes no bones either: The scantily clad bottle tempts you… remove the cork carefully, slowly, your desire building with every…

Harvest is a great time of year for photographing wine grapes, which become the most identifiable by their colors, shapes and overall morphology during that fleeting window just before they are picked. Because Spring bud break and flowering occurred as much as two weeks ahead of normal in 2013, Lodi‘s harvest commenced during the first…

Elaine Brown, a.k.a. Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews, is a wine blogger, journalist, photographer and inveterate illustrator with a moderate yet rapidly growing, significant following. How significant? Somehow her observations, as she travels up and down the West Coast wine regions and (occasionally) the Old Country, always seem to pop up in places like Eric Asimov‘s…

Last week Friday (September 13, 2013) Michael McCay of Lodi‘s vaunted McCay Cellars picked his Grenache from Abba Vineyard – owned by second-generation Lodi farmer Louis Abba Jr., and farmed by his son Phil Abba. Mr. McCay’s excitement is palpable – not only because his supply has increased, but also because 2013 looks to be…

The Lodi AVA‘s leading winegrowers are no longer shooting just for “varietal” identity in their wines. They are even more focused on producing wines that taste of “Lodi” because, in the end, this is what will set the region apart — not wines that taste like they could come from any other wine region. At…

According to the 2012 Grape Acreage Report put out by USDA‘s National Agricultural Statistics Service, approximately 10.2% of the total acreage of fruit bearing wine grape vines in California can be classified as “other” — including many of the “alternative” style varietals more common to Lodi than in other American wine regions, such as Albariño…