The near-immortal Pasos Vineyards Charbono

Pasos Vineyards' Antonio Pasos

It takes an inquisitive mind to even want to make a wine called Charbono, and pure skill to make something significant from this little known black skinned grape.  Meet Antonio Pasos, owner/winemaker of Lodi’s Pasos Vineyards.

Mr. Pasos discovered his calling fairly early in life, when his family moved from Monterey (where he was born) to Madera in California’s Central Valley to grow wine grapes.  Granted, 25, 30 years ago the Madera AVA was mostly about Thompson Seedless – industry old timers will recall that at one point, this table grape was the backbone of California “Chablis” – but in their own backyard, the Pasos family also grew “experimental” grapes like Syrah, and various clones of Cabernet Sauvignon on multiple rootstocks.  Hence, the germination of Pasos’ inquisitive nature...

Jan 3, 2012 at 1:17 PM Permalink

Lodi’s best days ahead (thanks to Mark Chandler!)

Mark Chandler

On January 1, 2012 the Lodi Winegrape Commission – representing over 750 Lodi region growers plus over 80 wineries – will embark on a new era with the departure of Mark Chandler, the organization’s first and only Executive Director since its establishment 20 years ago.  Mr. Chandler, who has privately been telling friends simply that “it was time,” has composed a farewell in his succinct yet sincere fashion (a long admired signature!) for our readers on lodiwine.com...

Dec 29, 2011 at 5:54 PM Permalink

A year in Lodi 2011 (part 2)

The classic, super-well drained, beach-like Tokay sandy loam beneath 92 year old Alicante Bouschet vine in Mohr-Fry Ranches (mid-Nov. 2011)

In August of each year in the wine country, grapes are past véraison — when sugar rises and acidity decreases in the grapes, which turn from a hard green to shades of purple, red, black, blue or gold — and are beginning their race towards their peaks of flavor.

As in many other parts of the world, the challenge for growers in Lodi is to achieve full fledged ripeness notwithstanding nature’s usual autumnal slings and arrows:  rain, rot, cold, heat, dessication, and on and on.  Vintage 2011 in Lodi was as problematic as most, but overall quality, in terms of sugar/acid balance and pure flavor, was as good as any.  Especially in regards to Zinfandel, Lodi’s bread and butter — most of which were picked prior to mid-October rains.  Subsequent rot forced some growers to leave a small percentage of their vineyards unpicked (particularly Petite Sirah), while the sturdier late ripening grapes (like Cabernet Sauvignon) survived the damp spell with their skins intact...

Dec 27, 2011 at 6:34 PM Permalink

A year in Lodi 2011 (part 1)

Against the typical cloudy backdrop of January, ancient Lodi vines, just pruned and conserving energy for their upcoming spring bud break...

Looking back on another fruitful year in the Delta

Looking back at our favorite photos of the past year also gives us a good sense of how vintage 2011 developed, and more to look forward to in the years to come when we finally uncork and taste the year in our mouths.  Some of our favorite scenes from the past year...

Dec 23, 2011 at 7:13 PM Permalink

What Lodi’s winemakers are enjoying this Christmas

What will Lodi’s winemakers be enjoying over the upcoming Christmas holidays?  We asked a few of Lodi’s finest this question, and discovered a couple of things:  how much of a mutual admiration society they have going on (they love drinking their colleagues’ wines), and how much they great European or classic American wines.  What they say...

Dec 20, 2011 at 8:26 PM Permalink

Dream case for the Lodi wine lover who has everything

Why begrudge your fellow man by stalking off or clicking off the television every time one of those Lexus Christmas commercials comes on?  We can be happy for other people’s success (yeah, right), but when it comes to wine, this question never really goes away:  why do people spend too much on bottles of wine?

We’re talking about big-name, big-shot wines that cost over $100, $200, or even $500 a bottle.  They’re not like a Lexus, which at least gives you a nifty package of engineering.  Fine wine is more like aesthetic arts or crafts:  the qualities appreciated are sensory, and therefore very much a state of mind, rather than a measurable technology.  The most exciting wine, when you think like this, are those that are totally new and unexpected.  Wines of originality as opposed to sameness; surprise as opposed to predictability.

And if there’s anything for which Lodi grown wines are becoming increasingly known, it’s their originality and total, wonderful ability to surprise.  Who would think, for instance, that wines made from grapes called Tannat or Verdelho could taste so good?  Although these grapes have European origins, very few vintners in Napa Valley or Walla Walla would think to grow them.  They’re mostly stuck on grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay – which are perfectly fine, but not always a turn-on for wine lovers with a thirst for the new and different...

Dec 13, 2011 at 8:34 PM Permalink

Test your Lodi white wine grape knowledge (part 2)

Mystery grape #3 is the dominant Lodi grown grape in Abundance Vineyards' multi-award winning Bountiful Blanc

If you did well in part 1 of Test your Lodi white wine grape knowledge, here’s the skinny here:  part 2 is a lot more challenging.

So just how big a Lodi wine lover are you?  You’ll find out at the very end of this post, where you’ll find the answers.

Hints:  Most of these grapes are commonly grown up and down the West Coast, from Santa Barbara to Walla Walla, but one of these is quite unique to Lodi (meaning, very little is grown outside Lodi, except in its country of origin).  But all are members of Vitis vinifera, the classic European family of wine grapes.  Ready, set?  Guess away!

Dec 6, 2011 at 8:48 PM Permalink

Macchia releases the first of the “perfect” 2010 zins

Tim & Lani Holdener at Macchia's 2011 Fall Release Party

One of the Lodi AVA‘s brightest success stories is Macchia Wines, owned and operated by Tim Holdener and his family.  Like a dozen or so other key Lodi vintners, Holdener started off as a “home” winemaker, turned professional in 2001, and hasn’t looked back since:  Macchia now produces about 10,000 cases a year, most of which are sold out within six months of release...

Dec 2, 2011 at 8:56 PM Permalink

Test your Lodi white wine grape knowledge (part 1)

So you think you know your white wine grapes? Perhaps you do, and perhaps not nearly as much as you think. Whatever the case, here’s a fun exercise: see if you can identify the following six white wine grapes captured below in recent photos, accompanied by detailed descriptions of each grape’s history and provenance, past and present. We’re not telling you the names of these grapes until the very end of this post, which gives you the chance to test your knowledge of both the wines of Lodi and of wine grapes in general. Hints: Most of these grapes are..

Nov 29, 2011 at 5:01 PM Permalink

Lodi’s November autumn splendor

November’s sky is chill and drear, November’s leaf is red and sear , wrote Sir Walter Scott. Wherefore we cannot let the season pass without at least one photographic ode to the colors exploding in our vineyards as we speak. The phenomenon, as you know, occurs when temperatures dip and leaves are divested of chlorophyll, the pigment that photosynthesizes solar energy during warmer months. As the greenery of chlorophyll recedes from the cellular walls, the brilliant golds and oranges of carotenoids take over. Reds and purples, however, come from another group of pigments in leaf cells called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are..

Nov 24, 2011 at 5:37 PM Permalink