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.
Discovering your own taste in wine beyond 100-point scores
Visiting wine lovers enjoying barrel tasting at Lodi’s St. Jorge Winery
100-point scores for rating wines: not every retail store features them as their "shelf talkers," but it seems like most of them do. But let the wine buyer beware: 100-point numerical scales – which strongly suggest some kind of authoritative mathematical precision – are, in fact, rarely accurate in terms of assessing true quality, and are more likely to provide you with a totally hit-and-miss idea of what wines you may enjoy most.
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Oct 28, 2014 at 10:42 AM
PermalinkBeauty of whole berry Sangiovese fermentation at Sorelle Winery
Sorelle’s 2014 Sangiovese harvest
We want to revisit our video taken of Sorelle Winery estate's 2014 Sangiovese harvest this past September 19 because it
Continue » Oct 24, 2014 at 10:52 AMOak Farm Vineyards opens its ambitious new winery and tasting room
Oak Farm Vineyards’ new winery/tasting room among magnificent ancient oaks
This Saturday, October 25, 2014, one of the Lodi AVA's most ambitious producers ever will be opening the doors of its new tasting room and winery for the first time.
Continue » Oct 21, 2014 at 11:14 AMBokisch Vineyards on all you need to know about Graciano, Garnacha and “egg” fermentations
It’s old news around here: Bokisch Vineyards‘ Markus Bokisch is one of the most interesting men in the (wine) world. We especially like him for the erudite ways in which he files his harvest reports.
Continue » Oct 16, 2014 at 11:25 AMWinemakers praise 2014 harvest’s brimming purple beads in this video round-up
This time of year, to borrow a little from John Keats‘ phraseology, is when beaded bubbles are brimming in the bins, and winemakers are smiling with purple stained mouths. Wine flows so much like poetry in California, you almost forget that it is still an agricultural product, and that Mother Nature always has the first, and last, word on everything.
Continue » Oct 14, 2014 at 12:15 PMConcrete Zinfandel merges old school with space age technology
Joseph Smith (left) and Tyson Rippey among the concrete fermentors at The Lodi Vintners Group winery
Beneath the low key, grayish, mild mannered label of the newly released 2012 Concrete Lodi Zinfandel ($45) lies a big, flashy, super-powered expression of the grape, which has come to exemplify Lodi's viticultural heritage.
Continue » Oct 8, 2014 at 12:34 PMWhat makes today’s Lodi wines special?
Four reasons why Lodi wines are so special: !ZaZin and REDS winemakers Ray Kaufmann and Patrick Campbell (left & center), Klinker Brick owner/grower Steve Felten, and ancient, gnarly 109-year old Rauser Vineyard Carignan vine
What makes Lodi wines special?
Continue » Oct 1, 2014 at 12:50 PM