1929 book on black grapes sheds fascinating light on the history of California wine

Close-up of Lodi old vine Zinfandel planted in the 1920s to meet the increased demand during Prohibition years, when Perelli-Minetti's groundbreaking research on grapes was conducted and published in "Black Juice Grape Varieties In California."

At the start of the 1920s, the California wine industry was still in its infancy.

Yet a reading of a 1929 publication entitled Black Juice Grape Varieties In California—authored by Joseph Perelli-Minetti for USDA's State of California Department of Agriculture—provides a fascinating glimpse into how far the science of winegrowing had advanced since the 1850s, and how far it has come between the 1920s and today.

This 80-page book, consisting of highly detailed photographs and notes on leaf and cluster morphologies of 38 of the major black skinned varieties cultivated during the 1920s, was loaned to me over the holidays by Tegan Passalacqua... 

Jan 9, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Personal thoughts on the start of another new year (2024) in Lodi

High wire trellised vines in December in Lodi's Jahant Viticultural Area.

I am not a Lodi native. I have, however, lived and worked in the appellation since 2010. I am looking forward to a fourteenth year in my adopted home.

For two weeks this past December (2023) I went back to my "roots," in the Hawaiian Islands. It was refreshing to see a lot of the old places and faces, and it also reminded me of why I now live in Lodi: Because it's real.

Like Hawaii, Lodi has its own facade; instead of mythical grass shacks and plastic hula skirts, the face of Lodi visible to most of the world is one of low priced wines made to cater to the usual expectations of mass market, supermarket products. Like Hawaii, there is a lot more to Lodi than that...

Jan 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM Permalink

Predicted wine trends for 2024—from the Lodi perspective

Sorting grapes from an ancient vine Mokelumne River-Lodi harvest.

It's that time of year when we start to talk about the most significant wine trends to expect in 2024. 

At the end of this past November, for instance, the Benson Marketing Group came out with 6 Wine Industry Trends You Can't Ignore in 2024. Their first prediction: "The no-alcohol or low-alcohol wine craze continues." Question is, for whom? Wine lovers certainly don't drink non-alcohol wines, and they never will, unless ordered by their doctors. 

The Benson group suggests that alcohol-free beverages are being driven by Millennials and Gen Z consumers seeking "healthier lifestyles and more mindful consumption." Clearly, though, this piece of information is neither here nor there for consumers who currently drink wine, and means nothing to wineries that make their living anticipating what actual wine drinkers want...

Dec 28, 2023 at 5:00 AM Permalink

For last-minute shopping and wine education, visit Certified Sommelier Paul Marsh at the Lodi Wine Visitor Center

The Lodi Wine Visitor Center retail store and tasting bar. Stephanie Russo Photography.

There may be just three more shopping days until Christmas, but no reason to panic. Especially for the Lodi wine connoisseurs in your life. 

Because there is still a one-stop place to find absolutely the finest Lodi grown wines there are to buy: the Lodi Wine Visitor Center located in Lodi at 2545 W. Turner Road.

If you've visited Lodi's Visitor Center—owned by Lodi Winegrape Commisison, the association of over 700 regional wine grape growers—you know that it operates not just as a retail shop but also as a tasting bar.

But if you haven't been to the Lodi Visitor Center since 2021, what you may not know is that the selections of wines themselves are more discerning than ever—virtually every bottle on the shelf a shining example of what distinguishes Lodi as an appellation...

Dec 21, 2023 at 5:00 AM Permalink

Our best blogs of 2023 were all about old vines—which Lodi has more than anywhere else in America!

December look of own-rooted Carignan, planted in the sandy soils of the east side of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA in 1909.

2023 will go down as the year when old vines finally got their due. No longer for just the outward beauty of these plants, their astonishing longevity or the special character of their resulting wines, but also for their significance in respect, as the recently established (June 2023) Old Vine Registry puts it, to the current "planetary crisis."

It is the very adaptability of old vines to decades or even centuries of extreme weather, pest and disease pressures that carry the "secrets of survival," according to Old Vine Registry, tantamount to the entire international wine community. "Big, gnarly vines," they write, "are significant reservoirs of biomass and carbon... they play vital roles in local hydrological cycles... their old, deep-and-wide root networks are inextricably bound up with and connected to the mycorrhizal networks that sustain, feed and protect our soils."

In addition, "old vineyards are also often full of clonal diversity and rare varieties... the genes of old vines can be studied, and old-vine material can be propagated for more resilient young vines..."

Dec 19, 2023 at 6:00 AM Permalink

Story of an appellation—Part 12, the future of Lodi winegrowing

Drone-captured message sent to Airborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer, written among grapevines by Lodi growers who collaborated on pathogen-spotting research conducted in collaboration with NASA's Applied Science Program. Aaron Lange (LangeTwins Family Winery) and Stephanie Bolton (Lodi Winegrape Commission).

Making things happen in the vineyard

The future of Lodi winegrowing lies in the recent past, which has been defined by two things:

• The evolving identity of Lodi's sub-appellations.
• The growing importance of sustainability...

Dec 12, 2023 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Story of an appellation—Part 11, the state of Lodi today

November colors in Mokelumne River-Lodi Carignan, originally planted on its own roots in 1900.

Point in history

There have been a few hiccups during Lodi's transition to higher quality wine grapes over the past forty to fifty years. For instance, Zinfandel—California's most enduring heritage grape for the production of dry table reds—was primarily utilized to produce mildly sweet pink wine (i.e., White Zinfandel) during the 1980s and 1990s. 

Although the White Zinfandel craze did not exactly enhance Lodi's reputation as a wine region of quality, it did help preserve the region's existing plantings of the grape—many of them over 50 or as much as 100 years old—and kept growers from pulling out these heritage Zinfandel blocks in favor of popular "new" varieties such as Chardonnay or Merlot.

If not for White Zinfandel, we may not be able to describe Lodi, as we do today, as the region with the most old vine plantings (that is, vineyards planted over 50 years ago) in the country...

Dec 7, 2023 at 5:00 AM Permalink

Christmas 2023! Lodi wines suitable for the collectors in your life

Lodi wine country during December.

Christmas shopping for discriminating wine lovers is next to impossible. They may know what they like, but what that is is anyone's guess. Taste in fine wine, as in all matters of taste, is a highly personal choice.

Hence, the following list, which is not a "best of." It is a list of a dozen Lodi-grown wines released in 2023 that would appeal to collectors because there is something about each that is a little out of the  ordinary. And there's nothing connoisseurs like better than things that are out of the ordinary.

Each of these wines, of course, are also very good. They would appeal to anyone who appreciates wines of exceptional quality.

Best of all, each wine is very "Lodi"—distinctive to the appellation on a sensory level, on an intellectual level, or both... 

Dec 5, 2023 at 6:00 AM Permalink

Story of an appellation—Part 10, Lodi's modern day winemaking leaders

Modern day Lodi dream team: (from left) Bruce and Jerry Fry of multi-award winning Mohr-Fry Ranches with Stuart Spencer, owner/winemaker of St. Amant Winery and current Executive Director of Lodi Winegrape Commission.

Continued from Story of an appellation—Part 9, the modern era, when Lodi families of German lineage took control

St. Amant Winery

Tim Spencer (1938-2006), who founded St. Amant Winery with his wife Barbara in 1972, was not just one of Lodi's pioneering vintners. He will always be remembered as one of Lodi's most inspiring winemaker/growers, exerting an influence still talked about today...

Nov 28, 2023 at 6:00 AM Permalink

A first Thanksgiving in Lodi

Late November colors in Lodi wine country.

Guest post by Elvira Fonz Gutiérrez

Elvira Fonz Gutiérrez first came to Lodi this past spring of 2023 to finish her Master's Degree in International Commerce in the Wine Industry, begun at University of Angers in the Loire Valley wine region of France. 

Having completed her work, rather than returning to her home in Huesca, Spain she has decided to stay in Lodi wine country for at least another year, taking on a new job as Marketing Coordinator for Bokisch Vineyards.

On this Thanksgiving morning, she sent over some of thoughts on spending her first Thanksgiving in the United States. Writes Ms. Gutiérrez...

Nov 23, 2023 at 9:00 AM Permalink