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.
What a difference a grape makes
The grape makes the wine, no matter where it’s grown… As discussed earlier in our Wine 101 installments, the grape variety (or varieties, if the wine is a blend of several grapes) is the single most significant factor differentiating the taste of wines. Producers in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and South America make it easy for us to understand because wines from those countries are usually sold by the brand name (i.e. Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, or LangeTwins Winery) followed by the name of the grape (Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc.). New World wines such as these are often..
Continue »
Aug 31, 2011 at 5:18 PM
PermalinkKidder Family rising star wines
Remember the name Kidder Family Winery, because this is one of Lodi‘s rising star producers. It’s not a simple matter of newness; nor even sheer talent, which winemaker/proprietor Aaron Kidder has aplenty. If anything, it’s a matter of Mr. Kidder having a strong sense of emerging contemporary tastes — particularly in respect to wines that impress you by their balance rather than hammering intensity, clarity of fruit rather than oakiness, and crisp edged, food-friendly textures — and the good sense and cojones to focus precisely on that. If you’re a bit tired of clunky, super-sized wines seemingly made more to..
Continue » Aug 29, 2011 at 3:51 PMTempranillo Day & Vin d’Elegance
August 31: Lodi celebrates International Tempranillo Day Seven Lodi based members of TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates Producers & Amigos Society) are teaming up with four of Downtown Lodi’s finest restaurants to put on an exciting progressive dinner celebrating the first ever International Tempranillo Day on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 (5:15 PM): 7 fantastic Tempranillos matched with 7 platos pequeños (small plates). The stellar Lodi wineries showing off their Tempranillos will include Alta Mesa, Bokisch, Harney Lane, Jeremy, Riaza, Ripken and St. Amant. Have you ever tasted good Tempranillo? If so, you experienced a soulful, sumptuous, mouth-filling red wine, as soft and..
Continue » Aug 26, 2011 at 3:29 PMWine-food matching made easy
A commonsense approach to wine and food matching We’ve mentioned some commonsense wine and food matches; like the fact that zesty, dry white wines like Sauvignon Blanc are as natural with white fish as a squeeze of fresh lemon. Or the fact that it makes sense to serve a full bodied, full tannin red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon with full, fatty red meats such as beef and lamb. It doesn’t take a Master Sommelier to understand these things. If you know that ketchup tastes good on a hamburger, and that hot fudge tastes great over vanilla ice cream, then you..
Continue » Aug 23, 2011 at 3:39 PMRight glasses & temperatures matter
Wine glasses make a difference Aside from choosing what wine to drink, there is probably no choice as key to your enjoyment of wine as your selection of wine glass. Everyone knows that wine glasses properly come with a stem, are crystal clear for visual pleasure, and are curved inward to allow the nose to better enjoy the aromas collecting just below the rim. But size and shape also matter. Generally speaking, white wines taste best in 12 to 14 oz. glasses in the graceful shape of a tulip. But for red wines, you can use the same 12 oz…
Continue » Aug 16, 2011 at 3:56 PMLodi’s Treasure Island WineFest
Lodi’s 3rd Annual Treasure Island WineFest Lodi Wine Country returns to San Francisco Bay this coming Saturday, October 8, 2011 (1 to 5 PM) at the Treasure Island WineFest! Over 45 of Lodi’s finest producers will be pouring over 200 Lodi AVA grown wines, including many of the 133 winners at this past 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (2 Best of Class, 2 Double Golds, 19 Golds, 60 Silvers, and 50 Bronzes). Visit the Treasure Island Web site for a list of these participating wineries. Of course, wait-there’s-more! Lodi’s Treasure Island WineFest occurs during the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Week,..
Continue » Aug 11, 2011 at 4:02 PMWine 101: tasting & talking
How to taste wine, without the gobbledygook… ‘Tis a far, far easier thing to do than what it’s been made out to be. Tasting wine is just like tasting food, except it involves a liquid in a glass, and getting accustomed to a process involving Seeing Swirling Smelling Sipping As Yogi Berra might have said, you can see a lot by looking, and it’s as important to first look at a wine as it is to first look at a dish before you eat it because our sense of smell and taste are most definitely connected to our visual sense…
Continue » Aug 9, 2011 at 4:06 PMMettler family’s runaway success
A family’s history of farming and excellence The decision to establish Mettler Family Vineyards as a brand and winery was, indeed, a “family decision,” says Adam Mettler. There is a lot of lineage as well as huge amount of talent associated with the name. Start with Adam Mettler, who is not only the family winemaker, but who also holds down a pretty respectable “day job” as GM/winemaker of Michael~David Winery, none less. Adam’s dad, Larry Mettler, heads up the family and their grape business (Arbor Vineyards), which farms over 800 acres of numero uno quality Lodi vineyards – 300 of..
Continue » Aug 5, 2011 at 4:11 PM