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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
 
October 27, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Flash of new insights into Lodi wine

Flash of new insights into Lodi wine

How Barry Genkow and Flash Détente’s new technology helps us an understand an old concept One of Lodi’s finest wines is m2 Wines’ Soucie Vineyard Zinfandel; which, vintage after vintage, is distinguished by an almost European quality that can only be described as earthy, loamy, and often mushroomy. M2 winemaker/proprietor Layne Montgomery often likens this wine’s distinctive complexity to the smell of “onions cooked in a beef stew.” Because you cannot find this particular quality in Zinfandels grown in other parts of Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA – demarcated by the flat, deep, rich sandy loam soils planted by the original..

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Time Posted: Oct 27, 2011 at 9:22 PM
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Randy Caparoso
 
October 19, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Lodi launches LoCA campaign

Lodi launches LoCA campaign

Lodi, CA (October 19, 2011) – If you see the word LoCA in an advertisement or billboard over the next few months, don’t worry — Lodi’s growers and wineries have not gone crazy. They’re simply telling the world how thrilled they are about the wines they produce, and how much they love sharing a taste of their life in Lodi — such an ideal place for grapes and people. LoCA is code for Lodi, California, and the growers and wineries in the Lodi American Viticultural Area want consumers to know exactly where that passion comes from: a tradition of farming..

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Time Posted: Oct 19, 2011 at 9:39 PM
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Randy Caparoso
 
October 17, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Lodi harvest in October 2011

Lodi harvest in October 2011

We often forget that wine is basically an agricultural product, which is why any winegrower will tell you: Mother Nature always has the last word. Even so, sometimes it has nothing to do with weather… Last week, as he was out in the fields analyzing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes being grown for the Mettler Family label, Adam Mettler noticed a few rows with grape bunches completely stripped of berries. “We are constantly battling Mother Nature in some blocks,” says Mettler, “but in this case, the culprit wasn’t rain or temperature… these rows were eaten by turkeys!” Otherwise, the story of the..

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Time Posted: Oct 17, 2011 at 9:47 PM
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Randy Caparoso
 
October 14, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Harmony’s Pipe Dreams zin rolls in

Harmony’s Pipe Dreams zin rolls in

When you take a tub of grapes and ferment it with the yeast that has grown naturally on their own skins, you are incorporating the vineyard’s indigenous microbiology. If those grapes happen to be Zinfandel grown in Lodi, the resulting red wine will not necessarily compare to other wines made from Lodi grown Zinfandel – you may like others better. Yet it is more likely to taste like the best possible wine made from that vineyard because you’ve allowed the grapes’ own yeast to play a part in the wine’s fermentation, and ultimately its flavor. The family at Lodi’s Harmony..

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Time Posted: Oct 14, 2011 at 9:53 PM
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Randy Caparoso
 
October 10, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Treasure Island winefest memories

Treasure Island winefest memories

Kodakchrome clear blue skies, perfect wine sipping temperatures, and precisely parallel white vapors trailing soaring Blue Angels like a hexagram of the heavens, the strings of Snap Jackson’s guitar, high, low, hither and yon across the San Francisco Bay: these were but some of the highlights of Lodi’s 2011 Treasure Island WineFest this past Sunday, October 8. So were the savory or achingly tender cheeses of artisans like Fescalini, Sonoma and Nicasio Valley — oh, what happy cows can render — and sweet nothings by love gangstas like Truffle Gateau and Desperately Seeking Chocolate, not to mention the virginal California..

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Time Posted: Oct 10, 2011 at 9:57 PM
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Randy Caparoso
 
October 7, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

The Wine in 2 Water benefit concert

The Wine in 2 Water benefit concert

October 15, 2011: The WINE IN 2 WATER Concert, Art & Wine Tasting at Jessie’s Grove Dancing Fox winegrower/proprietor and restaurateur Gregg Lewis has combined efforts with a counterpart, Greg Burns of the historic Jessie’s Grove Winery, to produce WINE IN 2 WATER: a charity concert, wine tasting and art demonstration benefitting the Bear Creek Water Project and Living Water International. The Bear Creek Water Project is a foundation endeavoring to save the lives of children (one dies every 15 seconds from preventable, water-related diseases) through raising money by recycling plastic bottles and aluminum cans to cover the cost of..

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Time Posted: Oct 7, 2011 at 10:28 PM
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Randy Caparoso
 
October 4, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Lodi’s “perfect storm” in 2011

Lodi’s “perfect storm” in 2011

“Forecast calls for rain, but local grape growers aren’t panicking,” reads the headline in today’s Lodi News-Sentinel. In fact, vintners are thinking the opposite: their outlook on the 2011 Lodi harvest thus far is positively positive — as if the skies were still crystal blue and absolutely cloudless. It all comes down to grapes: the varieties that are most susceptible to bunch rot – Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (yes, Lodi grows a significant quantity of Pinot Noir, too) – are pretty much all picked as of today. As much as an inch of rain is expected to fall during..

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Time Posted: Oct 4, 2011 at 10:32 PM
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