Michael Klouda’s Stem Theory is unoppressively contrarian

Michael Klouda

Call the newly released 2013 Michael Klouda (MK) Stem Theory Lodi Cabernet Franc ($26) what you like: confused, contrarian, counter-intuitive, confounding – but you can't call it boring.

It is, in fact, the perfect red wine for wine lovers who like a little bit of wildness, even rawness, in their wine, tingling your nose and scraping your tongue – but in a gentle, unoppressive sort of way. Michael Klouda Wines‘ 2013 Stem Theory does just that: a purplish red wine delivering an array of aromas – fresh raspberry and dried berries mixed with green, leafy/herbal notes – wrapped in a medium body with moderately weighted tannin, coming across as both velvety smooth and a little prickly and, well, a little wild, a tiny bit raw. Like the dashingly dangerous boy that you can take home to mom and dad.

Nov 11, 2014 at 2:48 PM Permalink

Lodi’s Coup de Grâce is a red wine blend to end all blends

Coup de Grâce Lodi Red Wine

The expression coup de grâce technically means putting someone out of his or her misery, in a most violent fashion. But here in Lodi, it is now means a gloriously rich and original red wine – a thick, bloody red, if you will.

Nov 4, 2014 at 2:56 PM Permalink

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.

Oct 28, 2014 at 10:42 AM Permalink

Beauty 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

Oct 24, 2014 at 10:52 AM Permalink

Oak 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.

Oct 21, 2014 at 11:14 AM Permalink

Bokisch 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.

Oct 16, 2014 at 11:25 AM Permalink

Winemakers 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.

Oct 14, 2014 at 12:15 PM Permalink

Concrete 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.

Oct 8, 2014 at 12:34 PM Permalink

What 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?

Oct 1, 2014 at 12:50 PM Permalink

A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 2

San Francisco artist John Garth’s 1960 mural in the Lodi Grape Festival hall, depicting Lodi seasons of yesteryear.

Turn of the century rise of Lodi wineries and growers’ cooperatives

In 1900 Urgon Winery was founded by an enterprising German emigrant named Adolph Bauer, who recognized the need for a wine production facility at a time, during the late 1890s, when many Lodi farmers were transitioning from watermelons to grapes. With the help of his partner John Guggolz, Bauer established the first independent facility for wine and brandy production in the Lodi region. Prior to that, Lodi growers were forced to sell most of their grapes to El Pinal Winery – later re-incorporated as George West and Son Winery – located further south in Stockton...

Sep 23, 2014 at 1:53 PM Permalink