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.
Lodi Native group to debut at ZAP/LoCA’s Lodi Zinfandel Experience
“This ol’ truck” in Lodi’s Harney Lane Winery estate…
ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) & LoCA present
THE LODI ZINFANDEL EXPERIENCE
Saturday-Sunday, March 29 & 30, 2014
Earth shaking things are happening in the Lodi AVA, which has always crushed over 40% of California's Zinfandels. Today, a significant percentage of this crop – still sourced from largely own (or St. George) rooted, head trained ancient vines – is going into handcrafted bottlings, unveiling a style of Zinfandel hitherto unsuspected, and surprisingly contemporary.
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Feb 20, 2014 at 10:07 AM
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The problem with reading alcohols and other assumptions about California Zinfandel
Winter mustards coming up between old vine Lodi Zinfandel
To truly grasp Lodi Zinfandel, it helps to understand how they compare with Zinfandels from other California wine regions
The problem is, there is a lot of misinformation out there; often perpetuated by journalists or, these days, by wine bloggers. In a recent “tips” blog, for instance, one helpful writer proffered these pearls of wisdom concerning California Zinfandel:
Continue » Feb 18, 2014 at 10:25 AM
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Distinguished judges share thoughts on the 12 Zins of Lodi 2014
The 12 Zins of Lodi 2014 have been chosen by a jury of eight respected wine professionals, as a result of a formal tasting taking place in San Francisco this past February 5th, organized by Charles Communications Associates for LoCA. These 12 Zinfandels were selected for being representative of the best of what the Lodi AVA has to offer today, in every price point; and samples will be sent out in care packages to media across the country.
The jurists made their selection after tasting a total of 57 Lodi grown Zinfandels in a double-blind format – meaning, they did not know the names of the brands (winery submissions were limited to two bottlings per winery). The envelope, please...
Continue » Feb 12, 2014 at 10:45 AM
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The decidedly unknown (yet fantastic) Charbono grape
The near forgotten Charbono grape
In a recent polemic issued on his Web site, the widely read wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. commented on the disproportionate attention paid to "unknown" grapes by some of the new "absolutists":
“What we also have from this group of absolutists is a near-complete rejection of some of the finest grapes and the wines they produce. Instead they espouse, with enormous gusto and noise, grapes and wines that are virtually unknown. That’s their number one criteria – not how good it is, but how obscure it is”
Continue » Feb 4, 2014 at 11:22 AM
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