skip to main content

Lodi Winegrape Commission

  • Home
  • Wineries
  • About
  • Visit
    • Visitor Center
  • Club
  • Events
  • Store
    • LODI RULES Sustainable Certification
    • White Wines
    • Rosé Wines
    • Red Wines
    • Sparkling/Dessert Wines
    • Old Vine Wines
    • Merchandise
  • Blog
TOP

Letters from Lodi

An insightful and objective look at viticulture and winemaking from the Lodi
Appellation and the growers and vintners behind these crafts. Told from the
perspective of multi-award winning wine journalist, Randy Caparoso.

Randy Caparoso
 
April 2, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

The amazin’ codgerly !ZaZin

IMG_3712

Patrick Campbell among codgerly old Lodi vines

He’s a poet, he’s a picker, sings Kris Kristofferson in Pilgrim.  A walkin’ contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction…

Since 1992, winemaker Patrick Campbell has been pickin’ grapes outside of his home vineyard/estate atop Sonoma Mountain, working with old time Lodi family growers to produce a wine he calls REDS:  a red wine, of course, and one that has set a quality standard for $10-$12 retail priced wine with its remarkably consistent balance of qualities associated with Zinfandel, Carignane and Petite Sirah culled from Lodi’s old vine, heritage plantings.  Hence, the wine’s original mottos, “REDS – a wine for the people,” and the quote from J. Edgar Hoover, “Find REDS and expose it.”

But from the beginning, according to Campbell, there was always one batch of Zinfandel picked for REDS, sourced from a now 104 year old stand of gnarled, split trunked vines along Harney Lane – on the east side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA where the fabled Tokay Sandy Loam is especially deep, porous and beach-like – that has “always stood out… full of a rich, composed character that you can only get in an old vineyard that knows itself, and controls its own growth.”  Therefore, commencing with a 2002 vintage, Campbell’s famed !ZaZin was introduced to thirsty legions of true-blue wine lovers around the world.

IMG_3750

We sat down at the end of this past March with Campbell, who shared his current releases:

2009 REDS, Lodi – Deep purplish ruby color and intensely fresh (not tutti-fruity) fruit centered nose of black cherry, red licorice, touches of raspberry, peppery spice and crackling autumn leaves; these flavors couched in a smoothly textured medium body, bright, zesty and bouncy on the palate.  60% Zinfandel; 30% Carignane; 10% Petite Sirah.

2009 !ZaZin, Laurel Glen Vineyard, Lodi – Black/purplish ruby, dark as night, and beautifully rich cassis/blackberry/black cherry nose tinged with nuances of Chinese black tea, Asian spices (like cardomom and star anise) and cigarbox; full, fleshy, viscous, and chubby on the palate without being hard or flabby; velvet textured flavors going long into the night.

The !ZaZin is, quite possibly, the finest $15/$16 Zinfandel produced in California, period:  a quietly intense wine that carries a huge stick, very much a reflection of Patrick Campbell himself, who was the recipient (back in 1998) of the Lodi Winegrape Commission’s first Wine Industry Integrity Award.  At that time, Mark Chandler, LWC’s longtime Executive Director, described the character of Campbell and subsequent award winners as being that of individuals who lead the entire California wine industry through “soft words and strong actions… quietly and consistently setting the standard measure for hard work, honesty and integrity.”

IMG_3719

Campbell photographing 100+ year old Carignane in Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA

Campbell, as it were, first established his reputation in the industry as the winemaker/proprietor of Laurel Glen Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, which has been considered one of California’s finest single vineyard bottled Cabernet Sauvignon since 1977, Campbell’s first vintage.  What’s always been amazing is how Campbell has consistently transplanted the seamless, elegant, quiet (i.e. never overblown) intensities associated with Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon into his wines grown in Lodi, as well as similarly crafted wines sourced from Argentina (Malbec based reds) and Chile (modestly priced Cabernet Sauvignons).

But in his usual way – frank, modestly, without fanfare – early last month Campbell sent out a personal message to close and old friends, saying:  “I have sold Laurel Glen Vineyard… (after) thirty-five years of farming Laurel Glen under my belt, I had simply gotten about as much intellectual interest and satisfaction out of the vineyard and winery as I was ever going to get.”

“Furthermore,” Campbell wrote, “during the past twenty years, my heart has been increasingly taken with the projects I had been developing in Lodi and Argentina, and it became ever more obvious that it was time to move on.”

IMG_3768

Campbell's !ZaZin source: vines so old, their trunks have long ago split in two after their centers have rotted away

So thank goodness, Campbell will continue to produce his REDS and !ZaZin – contributing further to the growing stature of Lodi grown wines around the world – along with Terra Rosa, Tierra Divina, Vale la Pena, and Chévere wines from South America, all under his new company name, Tierra Divina Vineyards.

Talking more about his decision to forsake Sonoma Mountain to devote more time in Lodi and South America, Campbell spoke about the qualities of old vines he has long admired in those regions:  “I have found that old vines are like the generations of people who have been farming them.  They know what they’re doing because they’ve been around.  It can be annoying because you can’t do a lot  to influence these stubborn, old codgers, and you end up learning from them, not the other way around.  At the end of the day they will always do what they’ve been doing for a long time, which is grow great wine….

IMG_3708

Lodi's Carignane centurians

“The old vines that produce !ZaZin tend to set their own crop, which is precious little, so there’s not a lot of cluster or shoot thinning to be done.  It always wants to produce an intense wine that hits that perfect middle ground between light or weak and fat or overripe.  This is good for me because I come from a mountain cabernet background, and I prefer my wines dry, with no residual sugar, and well balanced rather than raisiny or jammy to the point of being tiring…

“Like all good, old Zinfandel plantings, the vineyard along Harney Lane doesn’t ripen monolithically – you’re going to get some green berries among the ultra-ripe berries in many of the clusters – but the beauty of it is that it produces a pure, natural fruit, which we do our best not to mess with by aging only in neutral barrels that don’t cost a lot, allowing us to sell the !ZaZin for a great price.”

The wines do indeed speak for themselves, although others have spoken for Mr. Campbell.  His 35 year old daughter Arya, for instance, who has been working with the Laurel Glen brand the past five, six years, has said that her father has “amazing strength…. he doesn’t seem to experience fear and plows through every challenge head-on and with the confidence to succeed … we learned from him that we can achieve whatever we set out to do.”

IMG_3774

The Tokay Sandy Loam is so porous on Lodi's east side, vines struggle to uptake water, further concentrating grapes

Well known fact in the industry:  Mr. Campbell, now age 64, has always stood and walked with crutches, since being afflicted by polio at the age of 5.  All the more amazing to anyone who has ever tried keeping up with him while walking his steep, meticulously (and organically) cultivated mountain vineyard in Sonoma.

The grape, however, has enslaved Campbell, ever since he came to the wine country, originally to join the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center in 1974, after Campbell earned his graduate degree in religion from Harvard.  His longtime co-winemaker, Ray Kaufman (who will remain with Campbell’s Terra Divina), has said that Campbell has always struck him as “an intellectual in farmer’s coveralls… simple and complicated at the same time.  He is also a true renaissance person – he can fix a tractor, and he was a musician (playing viola) for the Santa Rosa Symphony.”

… all the reasons why Lodi’s greatest wines are coming from amazin’, stubborn ol’ codgers!

Old vine Carignane, Jesse's Grove

A field of Carignane centurians, seen through Campbell's lens

Tweet
Pin It

Comments

Commenting has been turned off.
Blog Search
Recent Posts
  • March 5, 2021
    The use of varietal as a term, its history and passing practicality
  • February 25, 2021
    All about terroir
  • February 22, 2021
    Why consumers never needed experts to tell them what they like (like Elvis and Zinfandel)
  • February 16, 2021
    A Lodi based sheep company begins work on sustainable vineyard farming
  • February 11, 2021
    Silicon Valley Bank's 2021 State of the U.S. Wine Industry report focuses on immediate and unimaginable challenges
  • February 9, 2021
    The dangers of COVID-19 to serious wine lovers
  • February 4, 2021
    In 2021, what's a wine brand to do to stay ahead?
  • January 27, 2021
    ZAP offers free Zinfandel livestream tastings and how Lodi Zinfandels compare to Zinfandels from other regions
  • January 25, 2021
    How Lodi wineries have adjusted to pandemic challenges and changes in how they do business
  • January 19, 2021
    French students break down Lodi winegrowing, marketing, and its Alta Mesa appellation
Our Writers
  • Randy Caparoso (813)
Blog Archives
2021
  • March 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (6)
  • January 2021 (6)
2020
  • December 2020 (7)
  • November 2020 (7)
  • October 2020 (6)
  • September 2020 (7)
  • August 2020 (7)
  • July 2020 (7)
  • June 2020 (8)
  • May 2020 (8)
  • April 2020 (8)
  • March 2020 (8)
  • February 2020 (6)
  • January 2020 (6)
2019
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (6)
  • October 2019 (6)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (5)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (6)
  • April 2019 (6)
  • March 2019 (6)
  • February 2019 (5)
  • January 2019 (7)
2018
  • December 2018 (7)
  • November 2018 (7)
  • October 2018 (9)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (8)
  • June 2018 (7)
  • May 2018 (9)
  • April 2018 (8)
  • March 2018 (9)
  • February 2018 (8)
  • January 2018 (8)
2017
  • December 2017 (6)
  • November 2017 (8)
  • October 2017 (10)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (6)
  • July 2017 (7)
  • June 2017 (6)
  • May 2017 (5)
  • April 2017 (7)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (5)
  • January 2017 (7)
2016
  • December 2016 (7)
  • November 2016 (8)
  • October 2016 (7)
  • September 2016 (7)
  • August 2016 (5)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (7)
  • May 2016 (6)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (7)
  • February 2016 (6)
  • January 2016 (5)
2015
  • December 2015 (8)
  • November 2015 (6)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (5)
  • August 2015 (6)
  • July 2015 (7)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • May 2015 (5)
  • April 2015 (6)
  • March 2015 (6)
  • February 2015 (7)
  • January 2015 (5)
2014
  • December 2014 (8)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (7)
  • September 2014 (5)
  • August 2014 (3)
  • July 2014 (5)
  • June 2014 (6)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (7)
  • March 2014 (5)
  • February 2014 (4)
  • January 2014 (7)
2013
  • December 2013 (8)
  • November 2013 (6)
  • October 2013 (7)
  • September 2013 (5)
  • August 2013 (6)
  • July 2013 (4)
  • June 2013 (4)
  • May 2013 (4)
  • April 2013 (5)
  • March 2013 (2)
  • February 2013 (2)
  • January 2013 (4)
2012
  • December 2012 (7)
  • November 2012 (9)
  • October 2012 (9)
  • September 2012 (7)
  • August 2012 (9)
  • July 2012 (8)
  • June 2012 (8)
  • May 2012 (9)
  • April 2012 (8)
  • March 2012 (9)
  • February 2012 (7)
  • January 2012 (9)
2011
  • December 2011 (7)
  • November 2011 (8)
  • October 2011 (7)
  • September 2011 (7)
  • August 2011 (8)
  • July 2011 (8)
  • June 2011 (9)
  • May 2011 (7)
  • April 2011 (9)
  • March 2011 (8)
  • February 2011 (8)
  • January 2011 (7)
2010
  • December 2010 (8)
  • November 2010 (6)
  • October 2010 (2)
  • September 2010 (6)
  • August 2010 (5)
Additional Resources
  • Media & Trade
  • Lodi Winegrape Commission
  • Donation Requests
  • Returns & Cancellations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
Contact

Lodi Wine Visitor Center
2545 West Turner Road Lodi, CA 95242
209.365.0621
Open: Thursday - Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm

Lodi Winegrape Commission
2545 West Turner Road, Lodi, CA 95242
209.367.4727
Open: Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm

Have a question? Complete our contact form.

  • © Copyright 2021 Lodi Winegrape Commission
  • Winery Ecommerce by WineDirect