What Bob Dylan has to do with good taste in wine, Robert Mondavi and Lodi history

Faces of Lodi wine industry today: Melinda Kearney (middle) going through her handcrafted old vine cuvées with her Lorenza Wine partner Michele Ouellet Benson (right) and winemaker Brianna Yray (left).

I started out on Burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff. Not really. But I always loved that line from Bob Dylan's song, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues."

As it were, after over 45 years in the wine business, wines made from Pinot noir, the black-skinned grape of Burgundy in France, remain some of my favorites. Why? Because Pinot Noir usually produces a softer, silkier, fragrantly spiced red wine. I drink it when I'm feeling fancy, or eating fancy (like filet mignon or rack of lamb)...

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2023 update on Lodi vineyards finally getting their due by being recognized by Historic Vineyard Society

The Historic Vineyard Society-certified Church Block on Mokelumne River-Lodi's west side, in between January 2023 rains.

Long overlooked old vines finally get their due

In France plantings of old vines are called vielles vignes (pronounced "VEE-le VEE-nye"). In Germany, alte reben ("AL-teh RAY-ben"). In Spain, vina vieja.

In the U.S., as well as countries such as Australia and South Africa, the phrase on the lips of wine lovers, and frequently popping up on wine bottles, is "old vine..."

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LODI RULES launches fourth edition of its industry leading guidelines for certified sustainable winegrowing

Lodi Winegrape Commission LODI RULES Chair, winegrower Phil Abba, during his 2022 Abba Vineyard Syrah harvest.

This past December 26, 2022, Lodi Winegrape Commission's sustainable winegrowing director Dr. Stephanie Bolton announced the launch of the newly accredited Fourth Edition of LODI RULES Sustainable Winegrowing Certification Standards.

According to Dr. Bolton: "We have pored over the LODI RULES sustainability certification program based on new knowledge that’s been gained over the last decade. By improving the program over time, the certification continues to be relevant and progressive and stays at the forefront of sustainability innovation..."

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Plain talk on the increasing mystique and value of old vines

Seemingly everyone in the wine world—wine lovers, self-appointed experts and writers, sommeliers, and media “influencers” and the like—is now into “old vines.”

But why? Or, you might ask, what’s wrong with young vines—virile, vigorous vineyards planted with the knowledge of the latest technology, viticultural hindsight and deep, deep pockets?

The answer is... it’s all good. It’s just that older vines, presumably planted during years when growers were not so smart or well heeled, now deserve their due because, well, they’re old. Somehow they’ve survived years and years and slings and arrows of market fortunes and misfortunes, when the land they sit upon could have easily been converted into other usages—more lucrative crops or industries, houses and highways, or of course, higher demand grapes...

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Lodi’s 2023 Wine & Chocolate celebration, a 3-day extravaganza, is less than a month away!

Longtime Lodi wine lovers are well aware of Lodi wine country’s crowning February event, the yearly Lodi Wine & Chocolate Festival!

What you may not be aware of, however, is that in 2023 this yearly celebration comes a week earlier than normal: February 3-5, 2023, rather than closer to Valentine’s Day...

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Initial report on Lodi's 2022 vintage and favorite images from the harvest

2022 Chenin blanc picker in Borden Ranch-Lodi's Palmero Family Vineyard.

The 2022 harvest is in the books, the grapes turned miraculously into wine, wineries preparing whites and rosés in tanks for bottling and checking on other wines resting in barrels.

In an initial report posted last November, California's Wine Institute summarized the state's overall performance as such:

Vintners across the state are expecting a high-quality vintage for 2022 following a season filled with curveballs. For many California wine regions, this was a tale of two harvests, as a Labor Day [September 3-5] heat wave divided the season into earlier and later picks. As harvest wraps up across the state, vintners predict that 2022 will produce memorable wines of great concentration and complexity...

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