A Lucas family Lodi Thanksgiving

Mitra and David Lucas (the father/daughter team behind The Lucas Winery)

Mitra Lucas – the “owner and daughter” of Lodi's The Lucas Winery and its founder/grower David Lucas – has many fond holiday memories growing up in this groundbreaking, certified organic estate, established the year she was born in 1978.

Ms. Lucas tells us: “The Lucas family’s Thanksgiving tradition has always been to invite more family and friends to dinner than we could possibly have room for. And so, since 1978, we have always held Thanksgiving dinner in our old barn which would transform, for one magical evening, into an exquisite dining hall filled with music, warm food, and the comfort of family and friends...

Nov 15, 2016 at 6:00 AM Permalink

What the Lodi Rules seal means on a bottle and to the Lodi community

Lodi grower Dave Devine's Lodi Rules certified L.D.L. Vineyard Zinfandel planting in Lodi's Clements Hills

Here at the end of 2016 – a year marking 25 years of existence for the Lodi Winegrape Commission – we cannot let the year go by without talking about a crowning signature achievement of this association of over 800 growers and wineries: Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing; first conceived and developed during the 1990s, and officially launched in 2005.

One of the surest marks of quality that you can find on a bottle of Lodi grown wine is the “Certified Green” seal, usually found on back labels, signifying it has been made from grapes passing a rigorous, third-party audited and certified process...

Nov 7, 2016 at 6:00 AM Permalink

The quintessential Lodi Zinfandel and ideal artisanal cheese matches

Essence of Lodi: vintages of St. Amant Marian's Vineyard Zinfandel

The Quintessential Lodi Zinfandel

Lodi is known for Zinfandel. There is more of this grape grown here than anywhere else; untold numbers of acres of this classic Vitis vinifera lovingly cultivated by multiple generations of families for over 50, 75, or even 100 years.

So what is the quintessential Lodi Zinfandel? Lodi may have a Mediterranean climate similar to that of Sonoma County, Napa Valley, Paso Robles, the Sierra Foothills and other California regions, but deep sandy loam soils – particularly in the historic Mokelumne River Viticultural Area surrounding the City of Lodi – and slightly narrower diurnal swings (cool nights that are not quite as cold, and fewer days of searing 100-degree heat) generally result in softer, more gentle, somewhat flowery, red fruit centered styles of Zinfandel, with variations of earthy undertones...

Nov 3, 2016 at 8:00 AM Permalink

November's Lodi Tour of Tempranillo (and why Tempranillo is an ultimate food wine)

This November, discerning aficionados of red wines made from the Tempranillo grape will be able to experience a time of their life in Lodi wine country.

Liz Bokisch, co-owner of Bokisch Vineyards and its viticultural arm Bokisch Ranches, has announced a weekend-long celebration of International Tempranillo Day (officially, November 10, 2016): a Lodi Tour of Tempranillo taking place on November 11-13 (Friday-Saturday-Sunday), involving 17 Lodi based producers of Tempranillo...

Nov 1, 2016 at 5:00 AM Permalink

The joy of Lodi grapes discovered in Berkeley's Urbano Cellars

Urbano Cellars' Bob Rawson and Fred Dick in their West Berkeley winery

If there is joy and camaraderie in wine, there is even more joy when you get together with friends of like mind and temperament to make your own wine.

Harvest 2016 found wine aficionados-turned-winemakers Bob Rawson and Fred Dick celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Urbano Cellars: an aptly named micro-sized winery and no-frills tasting room located smack dab in the middle of West Berkeley; just steps away from the shimmering lights and tony restaurants of Fourth St. (off University Ave.), and just down the hill from the storied University of California Berkeley campus...

Oct 26, 2016 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Questions (and answers) concerning the distinct minerality of Lodi grown wines

Fallen leaves and cobbly stones under mid-October vine in Lodi's Borden Ranch AVA

What is “minerality" in wine, and why are more people talking about it?

Answer: After many years of drinking soft, fruity styles of California wine, many wine lovers are gravitating more towards wines that are, well, unfruity. Wines that taste decidedly dry, with a little more tartness, a little lighter on the palate, with aromas and flavors that suggest things like minerals, stones, maybe a little flintiness or even brininess, as opposed to the usual taste fruitiness traditionally emphasized in California varietals...

Oct 20, 2016 at 3:20 PM Permalink

Ah, the smell of spice (that is, rotundone) in autumn wines

Discarded Zinfandel in Lucas Winery's ZinStar Vineyard

Syrah/Shiraz... Zinfandel... Petite Sirah... Grenache... what do these varietal reds have in common? Answer: they are all commonly described as “spicy,” and they all taste like autumn in a glass.

When the air begins to turn a shade cooler – daytime skies darken, humidity rankles the bones, while leaves transition from brilliant reds, oranges and yellow to dead, brittle browns – it is not uncommon for a wine lover to almost physically feel the compulsion to consume deeper flavored red wines, often with varying degrees of spice qualities suggesting cracked peppercorns.

That provocative scent of spice in many red wines, first identified by Australian chemists in 2008, is essentially the smell of an aromatic compound called rotundone, present in miniscule proportions in the skins of certain varieties of Vitis vinifera (i.e. wine grapes). According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (June 2008): “An obscure sesquiterpene, rotundone, has been identified as a hitherto unrecognized important aroma impact compound with a strong spicy, peppercorn aroma...”

Oct 18, 2016 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Beating the October rain at Lodi's Silvaspoons Vineyards

2016 Silvaspoons Vineyards Alvarelhão harvest under overcast October skies

At 7:00 this morning (Thursday, October 13, 2016), the rising sun’s light barely visible through gray overcast skies, Ron Silva spoke about the frantic picking of the last of his Silvaspoons Vineyards grapes before a projected rain storm.

“Rain is expected as early as tonight,” says Silva. “We have had two crews out in our Mingo Rd. vineyard since 3:00 AM, hand-picking in the dark with headlamps and overhead lights. We plan to work the rest of the morning to get in as much as we possibly can...”

Oct 13, 2016 at 4:00 PM Permalink

Winemaker John Giannini brings bold new direction to Van Ruiten Family Vineyards

Van Ruiten Family winemaker John Giannini at home in his lab

In November of last year (2015), Van Ruiten Family Vineyards – significant as one of the Lodi Viticultural Area’s largest, most established multi-generational and family-owned grower/wineries – took the bold step of bringing in John Giannini as their winemaker. This was a real coup for Lodi, as Mr. Giannini had previously distinguished himself as the oenology instructor at California State University Fresno (a post he held for over 10 years), as well as winemaker for the Fresno State Winery.

These past two months Mr. Giannini has been experiencing his first-ever harvest in Lodi. We caught up with him in his lab last week Tuesday (October 4, 2017), as he was measuring the titratable acidity of fermenting wines...

Oct 10, 2016 at 6:00 AM Permalink

Round-up of top Barbara bottlings from Lodi's oldest (and younger) plantings

In 2016, tiny, palm sized Barbera clusters in Lodi's 44-year-old Noma Vineyard

In 1972, according to St. Amant Winery owner/winemaker Stuart Spencer, “E. & J. Gallo approached several Lodi growers and asked them to plant Barbera.” The understanding was that these grapes were needed as key components for the winery’s most famous red wine, called Hearty Burgundy.

When E. & J. Gallo introduced its proprietary Hearty Burgundy in 1964, it quickly became America’s best selling “jug” red. In a landmark November 1972 Time Magazine cover story on the growing popularity of American wine, Los Angeles Times wine critic, Robert Lawrence Balzer was quoted to say, "Gallo Hearty Burgundy is the best wine value in the country today”... period...

Oct 5, 2016 at 7:00 AM Permalink