What is Lodi terroir? (part 1, Definition)

Lodi's Marian's Vineyard, a combination of ultra-deep sandy loam, Mediterranean climate and over 120 years of own-rooted Zinfandel cultivation adding up to a distinctive terroir perceptible in the sensory quality of its wines.

What is terroir?

Out of respect for this concept's French origin, I prefer to italicize the word, although you don't have to, since it's now co-opted into the English language like many other French words (such as élevage, café, chef, sommelier, apéritif, petite, haute couture, de rigueur, et al.).

But be careful how you use it. Merriam-Webster, for instance, simply defines terroir as a "combination of factors including soil, climate, and sunlight that gives wine grapes their distinctive character." That's true, but it's a lot more than that... 

Oct 17, 2024 at 7:00 AM Permalink

The myths attached to wine regions and best climates for wine grapes

"Contemplation" among old vines at Lodi's The Lucas Winery estate.

The wine world has always been full of myths. Why? Because mystique and imagination play as big a role in the enjoyment of wines as facts and figures. Wine, after all, is often described as an art, and leaps of imagination are very much a part of all artistic endeavors.

As you would expect, almost all myths are eventually dispelled, at which point they become more like inconvenient truths—things that most people can't or won't accept, even if we know they're true. We love our myths, our unfounded superstitions, our compelling mystiques. We desperately cling to them because they bring order and predictability to our lives. Until they don't.

For example, when I first started in the industry during the late 1970s it was "common knowledge" that the finest wines in the world came from France, and that wines from the places such as California or Oregon were, at best, pale imitations. As many long time wine buffs now know, events such as the Judgement of Paris in 1976⏤when French judges famously rated California wines higher than American wines in a blind tasting⏤quickly put an end to that erroneous myth...

Oct 14, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Everything you need to know about Assyrtiko, a Lodi wine of the future

Perlegos Family grown Assyrtiko, tailor made for Lodi's Mediterranean climate and sun.

A white wine of the (near) future

Prediction: In about 25 years time, Assyrtiko will become a major grape of the Lodi wine region. 

Not "major," mind you, in the same way as high-demand wine industry grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. According to the most recent California Grape Acreage Report (April 2024), there are currently 14,102 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 12,191 acres of Chardonnay cultivated in the Lodi appellation (classified as District 11 by the USDA)...

Oct 8, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Small scale independents working out of Lodi Crush produce exciting alternative style wines

The line-up of minimal intervention, small, independent winemakers working out of Lodi Crush: from left, Adam Saake (Perch Wine Co.), Adam Sabelli-Frisch (Sabelli-Frisch), Rose Nemet (Kareen Wine), Terah Bajjalieh (Terah Wine Co.), Greg Nemet (Kareen Wine) and Gerardo Espinosa (Lodi Crush and Anaya Vineyards).

Lodi Crush has become a magnet for small, independent wine brands⏤primarily one- or two-person operations⏤who, almost as a rule, prefer minimal intervention, alternative style wines appealing to the growing minority of oenophiles who prefer less commercialized, almost raw tasting wines. 

For the most part, this subset of handcraft artisans also look for grapes that are farmed in organic fashion. This approach to viticulture is all part of this growing culture⏤low intervention farming, after all, goes hand in hand with low intervention winemaking⏤which is also becoming increasingly important to consumers who specifically seek out products produced with some sense of environmental responsibility...

Oct 3, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Intriguing batch of alternative style wines bringing new sensations to the appellation

2024 Charbono harvest in Lodi's WOO GIRL! estate.

Every year it's the same. Fall seeps into your veins like a transfusion. The palate reawakens. Not that it was comatose during the summer months. It's just alerted to new sensations.

Lou Reed once wrote a song about renewed outlooks on life, called "New Sensations"—not so much about a change in seasons as change of scenery. In Reed's song, it's about taking his motorcycle out into the hills where he can feel the icy sting of the air as it slaps the cheeks; where a burger, a coke and a "hillbilly song" coming out of a jukebox in a roadside diner suddenly seems almost revelatory, as he muses...

Oct 1, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Harvest images of Church Block, an all-time great historic Lodi vineyard

Early morning harvest morning in Lodi's historic Church Block Vineyard.

At the break of dawn this past Monday, September 23, Markus Wine Co. owner/grower/winemaker Markus Niggli and his veteran crew of field hands picked the landmark Church Block Vineyard.

Church Block is located just south of the City of Lodi, and is just a postage stamp-sized block (1.5 acres) located just east of the old Borra Vineyards winery and estate, which shuttered in 2019, the year before the death of owner/grower and founder Steve Borra... 

Sep 26, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

The annual Lodi Grape Festival continues to celebrate the region's number one commodity (grapes!)

The Ole Mettler Pavilion on the grounds of the Lodi Grape Festival during last weekend's 2024 Lodi Grape Festival.

In 1934 Lodi was in the mood to celebrate. Naturally, local farmers and city organizers felt that it should also be a celebration publicizing the region's number one commodity: Grapes.

Not that there was much else to celebrate. The entire country was still in the throes of the Great Depression, affecting Lodi as much as any community in America. The year before (in 1933) Lodi farmers fought tooth and nail against union organizers, threatening to disrupt vineyard operations. It did not end well... for the strikers and organizers (see our 2023 post, History of Lodi labor)...

Sep 19, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

One of Lodi's oldest heritage vineyards is picked and packed for home winemakers

2024 Lodi Zinfandel harvest at Giorgi-Ferrari Vineyard, first planted in the 1920s, being packed for shipping to home winemakers across the country by Lodi's M & R Company.

A legacy of longtime Lodi families

There is nothing like the sight of ancient vine Lodi Zinfandel being picked and packed, right in the vineyard, for fresh fruit shipping directly to stores catering to home winemakers clear across the country and to our neighbors in Canada.

If you recall, many of Lodi's longtime winegrowing families got their start doing exactly that during the 1920s, when wine production (except for sacramental wines) and liquor sales were prohibited by law, yet citizens were allowed to make up to 200 gallons of wine a year in their own homes... 

Sep 16, 2024 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Early report and favorite photographs of the start of the 2024 Lodi harvest

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Old vine Carignan harvest in Lodi' s Mokelumne River AVA, September 2, 2024.

For most of Lodi's smaller, handcraft wineries, the 2024 wine grape harvest began in mid-August. The pace of the picking of old vine blocks, which are generally lower yielding than younger trellised vineyards, picked up during the last week of August and first week of September.

A big question for much of the industry has been how much of an impact 2024's extraordinary heat waves, which began in June, will have on grape quality and yield. One initial impression shared by Markus Wine Co. owner/grower/winemaker Markus Niggli⏤who began picking his Nicolini Ranch Carignan (oldest vines planted in the 1930s) on September 2, and Rous Vineyard (Zinfandel planted in 1909) on September 5⏤was the following: The heat waves have had negligible impact... 

Sep 9, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Two Gen Z professionals pick Lodi wines younger wine followers would love to love

Two Gen Z Lodi wine professionals, Anna Delgado (left) and Elvira "Elvi" Fonz-Gutiérrez.

Co-written with Anna Delgado and Elvira Fonz-Gutiérrez

Just a few years ago the wine industry talk was all about Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996). What do Millennials want? What are Millennials thinking? Especially, what are Millennials buying?

Nowadays, or so it seems, it's more about Generation Z (born 1997-2012), the latest generation to reach adult beverage drinking age. However, never in my nearly 50 years in wine-related businesses have I ever seen a generation more castigated. The general feeling in the wine industry is that early to mid-twenty-somethings just aren't interested in wine. They'd rather drink craft beer, pop cannabis products, or gulp down flavored water, of all things.

Is fine wine that uninteresting to today's youngest adults? Yes and no. Two months ago we addressed this topic in a post entitled Do not talk about what young consumers think about wine unless you're under 30. The upshot: If you want to know what Gen Z consumers think or want, you should ask them. Don't make errant assumptions. They speak well enough for themselves, thank you...

Sep 5, 2024 at 9:00 AM Permalink