Lodi Wine Experience at Lodi Lake is back, May 19-20!

Are your ready for a different kind of wine experience?

One that takes place in a lush oasis dotted with towering oaks and willows, surrounded by the ice-cold waters of the Mokelumne River on one side and an enchanting lake on the other? Love will be in the air, as it always is during wine events at bucolic Lodi Lake. Love of wine, that is, and love of wine-friendly foods, love of learning and talking about wine, love of nature and love among, well, wine lovers of similar ilk, from neophytes to connoisseurs. Almost takes you back to the immortal words of Jimi Hendrix...

If you can just get your mind together
Then come on across to me...

But first, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have...

Apr 10, 2023 at 5:00 AM Permalink

Red wines to help celebrate the season for spring lamb

Working sheep among old vine Zinfandel in Schulenburg Vineyard, on the west side of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA.

This coming Sunday (April 9, 2023) is Easter. I don't know about you, but my Easter dinner main course is all set: a leg of lamb!

What's up with the entire idea of "spring lamb?" The USDA actually defines lamb meat as such: 

Most lambs are brought to market at about 6 to 8 months old. A lamb weighs about 140 pounds and yields approximately 46 to 49 pounds of edible lean retail lamb cuts, semi-boneless. If the phrase "Spring Lamb" is on a meat label, it means the lamb was slaughtered between March and October... 

Apr 3, 2023 at 2:00 PM Permalink

Voluptuary + Lucid embraces Lodi grapes like gifts of nature, perfectly suitable for adventurous winemaking

Voluptuary + Lucid owner/winemaker Kevin Luther in a book lined corner of his urban Sacramento winery/tasting room.

A "natural" winemaker in flux

There is a micro-winery located in our State Capitol of Sacramento owned by a winemaker named Kevin Luther. Mr. Luther bottles wines under his Voluptuary + Lucid brand, all with curious, almost dreamy, artistic labels reflecting the restless dispostion of the winemaker himself.

Not that Voluptuary + Lucid wines are "all about Kevin." Surprisingly, they are not, despite the continuous compulsion to explore perspectives and techniques on the part of this particular Kevin in question...

Mar 30, 2023 at 2:00 PM Permalink

Arianna Wines harbors a passion for Lodi-grown Torrontés, one of the world's most exotic white varietals

Arianna Wines owner/winemaker Arianna Spoto with Torrontés vines in Lodi's Silvaspoons Vineyards.

Many of America's best independent winemakers are driven by passion; and not uncommonly, it is passion first fired up by one moment of serendipity.

For Arianna Wines owner/winemaker Arianno Spoto, that moment came in 2014, while she was working a harvest in Argentina's Mendoza region, when a colleague shared a bottle of local white wine with her.

"It was a wonderful," recalls Spoto. "The wine had an amazing fragrance, like rose water and spice, reminding me a little of Gewürztraminer, but with a freshness that reminded me a little of a ripe Sauvignon Blanc. I asked, 'what is this?' I was told that it was made from Torrontés, a grape that grows everywhere in Argentina, sort of like Chardonnay is found everywhere in California... 

Mar 27, 2023 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Mikami Vineyards continues to forge its identity by rolling with the flow of its provenance

Mikami Vineyards' owner Jason Mikami, a third generation Lodi grower, with his winemaker Kian Tavakoli, sampling newly fermented rosé from stainless steel casks.

After 15 commercial vintages, Mikami Vineyards is still a tiny brand. Current total production barely tops 500 cases. By comparison, most Lodi wineries falling in the "small" category produce a few thousand cases. Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi winery churns out several million. 

Still, Mikami Vineyards' first vintage, a 2008 estate grown Zinfandel, totaled just 50 cases. Modest progress has been made. The important thing, as owner/grower Jason Mikami recently told us, is, "We still sell out everything we make... we feel lucky to have such a loyal following..."

Mar 21, 2023 at 11:00 AM Permalink

Acclaimed wine scribe Alder Yarrow tells the story of California's geekiest vineyard—Lodi's Mokelumne Glen

The late Robert "Bob" Koth, who founded Lodi's most unusual (or geekiest) vineyard, called Mokelumne Glen.

Alder Yarrow, the author of Vinography, has just published the longest profile of a single Lodi grape grower ever written. At least as far as we know.

The story is on Mokelumne Glen Vineyards, established on the east side of Lodi's Mokelumne River appellation by the late Bob and Mary Lou Koth. Over the past two years the vineyard has been managed by their children, Brett and Ann-Marie Koth. 

It's a heroic tale because the vineyard is planted to over 55 grape varieties of German and Austrian origin. Some would call that lunacy, given that Lodi's Mediterranean climate is not supposed to be conducive to more northerly European grapes. All the same, the vineyard has a track record of producing delicious wines that have impressed even internationally traveled, and acclaimed, wine journalists such as Mr. Yarrow. Clearly, in the great, big world of grapes and wines, there is such a thing as suspension of disbelief; that is to say, just "shut up and enjoy..."

Mar 16, 2023 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Tiny Christopher Cellars has emerged as a leader among Lodi's latest, handcraft, minimal intervention style wineries

Chris and Candice Mora sampling their latest release of Christopher Cellars Barbera Rosé

This past March 4, 2023, Chris and Candice Mora celebrated their third year of doing business as owner/winemakers of Christopher Cellars, based in Elk Grove, about half-way between the City of Lodi and Downtown Sacramento.

Christopher Cellars is a small winery—currently producing just 3,000 cases yearly, putting them in a "boutique," or handcraft, category—but has dramatically grown in significance for two good reasons...

Mar 14, 2023 at 11:00 AM Permalink

Peltier's new winemakers introduce innovations to an already innovative winery

Peltier Associate Winemaker Bryce Willingham and Head Winemaker Gianni Abate tasting the winery's latest releases. Peltier Winery.

Zante, the new baby

The Schatz family, one of the Lodi appellation's most important growers, has done it again. Or shall we say, twice again: They have landed not one, but two extremely talented winemakers, with impeccable credentials, to lead the production operations of the family's Peltier Winery & Vineyards. 

Both winemakers—Head Winemaker Gianni Abate, and Associate Winemaker Bryce Willingham—came aboard just before the 2022 vintage, and took off with a running start. They have just released a brand new, and quite original, Peltier bottling called the Peltier Winery Zante ($18)...

Mar 8, 2023 at 6:00 AM Permalink

All the details you need on San Joaquin Delta College's Wine Hospitality courses in spring 2023

Fred Swan, San Joaquin Delta College Wine Hospitality instructor, evaluating Lodi Zinfandels in a blind tasting.

Here is the lowdown on the two San Joaquin Delta College wine courses in Stockton, which will begin in the third week of March 2023:

Wine Regions of California (Culinary Arts 85)
Begins Monday, March 20, ends May 8, 2023
Classes are Monday nights, 6:00-8:50 PM

Evaluation of Wine (Culinary Arts 82)
Begins Tuesday, March 21, ends May 9, 2023
Classes are Tuesday nights, 6:00-8:50 PM

To sign up, please visit San Joaquin Delta College's Wine Hospitality page. There are no prerequisites, the courses are open to all adults at least 21 years of age. For any and all questions you might have, even after visiting the Delta College website, do not hesitate to contact instructor Fred Swan directly at fred.swan@deltacollege...

Mar 1, 2023 at 9:00 AM Permalink

Reports of the imminent demise of the American wine industry are greatly exaggerated

Wine lovers of the boomer generation—still the wine industry's bread-and-butter demographic—taking their leisure at a past Lodi ZinFest (slated to return in May 2023 as Lodi Wine Experience).

The American Wine Industry Has an Old People Problem. That was the title of an article published by The New York Times this past January 31, 2023, authored by the newspaper's widely followed wine correspondent Eric Asimov.

By "old people," the Times was wryly referring to Americans over 60 years old, a demographic that recent statistics show is the only segment of the wine market that is currently purchasing and consuming more wine—especially premium quality/priced wine—with any degree of significance... 

Feb 27, 2023 at 8:00 AM Permalink