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
 
May 28, 2013 | Randy Caparoso

The Landsman Lodi Zinfandel is not just kosher, it’s a doozy

Kosher Lodi grown Zinfandel?  Maybe not something you can say was “bound to happen,” but there now is one, and it’s a doozy – produced and bottled by the Napa Valley based Covenant Wines.

The newly released 2011 Landsman Lodi Zinfandel ($40), crafted by Covenant winemaker/owner Jeff Morgan, is a genuinely rich, vivid, powerfully aromatic expression of Lodi grown Zinfandel:  teeming with raspberry and blueberry fruit qualities that are not quite jammy, yet generous enough to coat the palate with sensations akin to eating drippy berries with svelte, black lambskin gloves.  Medium-full body – that is, not coming across as fat or ponderous – and nuanced by faintly gamey whiffs that are more like the animal smells you find in black, oily, dark roast coffee beans than red meat, laced with suggestions of cardamom and cinnamon.

Mr. Morgan’s own take:  “The Landsman Zinfandel has a very distinctive quality, going a little beyond the usual varietal character.  There is an exuberance of fruit that is very ‘Lodi,’ plus smoky, earthy qualities that I find fascinating.  I get an almost Middle Eastern shuk character:  shuk, meaning the spice market quality – like the heavy, heady aromas of cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and other spices wafting in the air, like a giant spice rack.”

Elaborating further, Morgan tells us, “Landsman refers to being a member of a tribe with a similar heritage or belief system.  The Landsman Zinfandel has its roots in Lodi Wine Country, and is very much an expression of that place, with its long tradition of grape growing.  This fits right in with our Jewish philosophy and faith, which is based on sense of place, and very long traditions.”

As a Zinfandel, Morgan adds, “the Landsman is robust yet perfectly round and delicious – almost like a Port, but completely dry, not sweet.  It can overpower many dishes, but makes a wonderful match with cheese – especially complex, aged cheeses made from cow’s milk, and even fresh goat’s milk cheeses from California.”

Morgan had been producing Covenant Wines – a portfolio consisting of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay, and a Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc – since 2003.  The 2011 Landsman is Morgan’s first foray into Zinfandel.  He tells us, “I had been aware of the great wine tradition in Lodi for a long time, and so in 2011 I went out there to ask around about grapes, and someone sent me to Larry Mettler.  We started out with just 4 tons from a little block farmed by the Mettlers on Alpine Rd.  The 2011 turned out so well, starting in 2013 we’re committing to an entire block and stepping up our production of Lodi Zinfandel.”

As with all of the Covenant wines, the Landsman is fermented completely with native yeast, to achieve the additional layers and complexity wrought by slower natural fermentation.  “There is such a thing as kosher yeast,” says Morgan, “but indigenous yeast makes that unnecessary.  We don’t want to add acid or do anything unnecessary to our wines.  We focus on the natural fruit by aging for only 6 months in strictly neutral French oak barrels.  For observant Jews, it is a kosher wine; but for anyone who appreciates good wine, it is great Zinfandel.

Now for the 64 million dollar question:  what makes the Landsman “kosher?”  Explains Morgan, “What keeps a wine kosher is that it can only be handled by a Sabbath observant Jew.  There are no actual kosher winemaking methods – no particular anything that makes a wine kosher.  But of all the things we consume as Jews, the only thing subject to stringent rules is wine because it is inherently holy – the one thing that creates the connection to the almighty.  Religious moments are highlighted by prayers that are said over wine, but not because wine has been blessed by the divine, but because wine is blessed as something naturally divine.”

Although Morgan became Bar Mitzvah (literally speaking, a “son of commandment”) in 2007, as a non-Sabbath observing Jew he is not allowed to physically handle his own wines during the winemaking process.  “I’m not a Sabbath observing Jew because I’ll drive a car on Saturday, I’ll eat non-kosher food and drink non-kosher wine.  In the cellar, though, I have an associate winemaker named Jonathan Hajdu, who supplies the Sabbath observant component that keeps my wines kosher.  For instance, only Jonathan can press the on and off buttons of our destemmer.  Only Jonathan can do the pump-overs or pull samples out of barrels.  I control all aspects of winemaking, but the only things I can actually do are basically the clean-up jobs, like cleaning the floor.”

So why produce a kosher Zinfandel?  Explains Morgan, “The reason we follow these rigid rules is because we want to be able to sell to Jewish wine drinkers who, like Jonathan, follow kosher guidelines religiously.  It is not so easy to do kosher winemaking because cellar work is very skilled work, and there aren’t that many Sabbath observing Jews around to do it.  Jonathan has been with us for eight years now.  Prior to joining us he worked at Herzog Wine Cellars in Southern California (Oxnard).  Later, when he moved to the North Coast, he did cellar work at Copain, but things like not being able to work on Saturday didn’t go over well with them.  Meanwhile, I had been trucking grapes all the way down to the Herzog family’s winery near L.A. for five years, just to have my wines done kosher.  Getting Jonathan onboard made it possible to produce kosher wines here in Napa Valley.”

The entire Covenant project began ten years ago, as a result of a dinner in Napa Valley with Leslie Rudd, the owner of the prestigious Rudd Oakville Estate, as well as the famous chain of gourmet grocery stores, Dean & DeLuca.  Says Morgan, “Leslie and I are part of a social group called Jewish Vintners of Napa Valley.  There must be at least 100 Jewish winemakers in Napa Valley alone.  At one dinner I was sitting next to Leslie when we were served a great kosher Cabernet Sauvignon from Israel.  Leslie said, ‘Wow, I’ve never had something like that before.’  I said, ‘Leslie, all we need are good grapes, and we can make even better wine.  If you let me use the Cabernet Sauvignon from your vineyards, I’m sure we can make the greatest kosher wine in 5,000 years.’”

Rudd, however, did not swallow Morgan’s invitation hook, line and sinker.  Says Morgan, “Leslie said that if I screwed it up it would be the worse kosher wine in 5,000 years.  But he did say, ‘Find someone else’s grapes, and I’ll be your partner.’  So I found some great Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from a heritage Napa Valley vineyard, and with Leslie’s help, we got Covenant Wines started.”

On the day we met in their Napa Valley farmhouse home, Mr. Morgan and his wife Jodie were preparing to leave for Israel for ten days, ostensibly to look into the possibility of producing wine there as well.  Reflecting on his life – first, as a young saxophone player developing a taste for good wine and food while studying music at Conservatoire de Nice, and later as a wine journalist and former West Coast Editor for the powerful Wine Spectator magazine – Morgan tells us:  “Covenant Wines has been a journey that has brought me closer to myself.  Although I was born and raised Jewish in New York, I didn’t know much about what that meant until fairly recently.  Now I am working with some great Jewish friends, mentors and colleagues.  I’ve visited Israel numerous times, and am making successful wine in Napa, Sonoma, Lodi… and perhaps soon, also in Israel.

“And to think, it all started when Leslie Rudd said, ‘I bet you can’t make great kosher wine!’”

Tweet
Pin It

Comments

Commenting has been turned off.
Blog Search
Recent Posts
  • January 19, 2021
    French students break down Lodi winegrowing, marketing, and its Alta Mesa appellation
  • January 13, 2021
    Alternative style Lodi wines reflecting the wave of the future — part 2, new interpretations of heritage grapes
  • January 11, 2021
    Alternative style Lodi wines reflecting the wave of the future — part 1, an unfamiliar white and red
  • January 5, 2021
    Discerning wines of the immediate future through what we know about the past and what's going in Lodi
  • December 29, 2020
    Lodi 2020: The year in pictures
  • December 27, 2020
    The small steps of Lodi growers led to giant leaps for Lodi wine country
  • December 22, 2020
    Looking on the bright side of fading old vine plantings in Lodi
  • December 17, 2020
    Our list of nice Lodi reds, rosés and fortified dessert wines for Christmas gifting and sipping
  • December 15, 2020
    A Lodi white makes the world's Top 100 list, and other Lodi whites for Christmas shopping and sipping
  • December 9, 2020
    The 1980s and 1990s — start of Lodi wine country's modern era
Our Writers
  • Randy Caparoso (804)
Blog Archives
2021
  • January 2021 (4)
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