Early sensory report on Lodi's challenging, yet exceptionally promising, 2023 vintage

McCay Cellars' Mike McCay raising a toast in one of his old vine Zinfandel blocks.

California's 2023 harvest, you might have heard, was problematic, especially in the Lodi appellation. 

In Lodi, the challenges were more economic than those of issues imposed by Mother Nature. It was, in short, a cooler than usual vintage. Theoretically, this is good, because Lodi is a warm climate winegrowing region. But as San Joaquin County Viticulture Farm Advisor Jim Kissler put it, “Some growers had trouble obtaining the minimum sugar requirements of 22˚ Brix [i.e., sugar readings]... and growers without a home for their grapes found it frustrating."

As of 2023, the entire California wine grape industry is beset with a problem of oversupply. Many vineyards up and down the state went unpicked last year, with vineyard owners left holding the bag. According to a report posted by Stuart Spencer (Executive Director, Lodi Winegrape Commission) this past December 4 on the Lodi Growers page...

Mar 4, 2024 at 6:00 AM Permalink

Ode to Lodi's legendary Flame Tokay, never to be forgotten

Flame Tokay—a.k.a., Ahmeur bou Ahmeur—on own-rooted Mokelumne River-Lodi grapevine over 130 years old,

About eight miles east of the City of Lodi, there is a short country lane called Tokay Colony Road, demarcated by Hwy. 88 to the west and N. Tully Rd. at its eastern end. It's an interesting road because it was named for the grape variety called Tokay—more properly known by its full name, Flame Tokay—which for about 100 years was the most widely planted grape in the Lodi wine appellation.

Only, it was never really a wine grape. Flame Tokay was primarily a table grape, grown for the fresh market, in supply for no more than a month's time each year...

Feb 28, 2024 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Favorite Lodi Zinfandel and cheese matches

Mokelumne River-Lodi Zinfandel cluster and cheese.

The air is still a little nippy, if not downright damp, which  is why I, for one, tend to tucker down in the safety of my four walls at night. Preferably with a bottle of Zinfandel.

I drink Zinfandel with almost everything, including my favorite foods, such as spaghetti and meatballs, pan fried pork chops, Asian spiced barbecued baby back ribs, hibachi grilled salmon, or just plain pasta and garlic. How do you spell comfort?

Zinfandel, as it were, is also surprisingly good with cheese. Especially the gourmet type cheeses you find at Cheese Central, the artisanal cheese store owned by Cindy Della Monica, located in Downtown Lodi...

Feb 21, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

For one last time: level of alcohol has little to do with overall quality or balance in wines

There was an unexpected response to one of our articles posted at the end of January on Zinfandels tasted at the last big Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Grand Tasting in San Francisco (see At 2024 ZAP, it is clear that California Zinfandel has finally grown up).

On social media, one widely known wine journalist asked, "Why did you not list alcohol levels of the Zinfandels you wrote about?" His explanation for his question: "Knowing the alcohol levels helps me decide if I like a wine or not."

When it comes to wine, the rule is always to-each-his-own. Neither I nor anyone can never tell you how to appreciate wine. But when it comes to alcohol, particularly as it pertains to California Zinfandel, I can advise you based on simple facts: It is a big mistake to pre-judge a wine by its level of alcohol—something the industry often refers to as ABV, or Alcohol by Volume, usually listed in small print on the sides of wine labels...

Feb 19, 2024 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Christopher Cellars' blend of classic Lodi grapes among Best of Class winners at 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Competition

Christopher Cellars' 2022 Grand Cuvée, one of eight Lodi-grown wines that achieved lofty Best of Class awards at the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Competition, judged among 5,500 other wines from all over North America. Christopher Cellars.

The yearly San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is a massive affair, taking place at the end of each January. The 2024 edition involved 52 professional judges tasting over 5,500 wines. 

Wines are entered from anywhere in North America. Consequently, when the 2024 winners of the 177 classes of wines were announced, winning bottlings hailed from everywhere from California's Napa Valley and Sonoma County to Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Texas, Idaho and New York...

Feb 14, 2024 at 12:00 PM Permalink

Photographic memories of Lodi's 27th Wine and Chocolate weekend

Intimate dinner with the winemaker (Stuart Spencer, third from left) in the St. Amant Winery barrel room on the first night of Lodi's Wine and Chocolate weekend.

Neither rain (luckily, minimal!) nor blustery winds seemed to deter thousands of Lodi wine lovers enjoying the region's 27th annual Wine and Chocolate weekend, this past February 2-4, 2024.

Friday the 2nd started with intimate dinners or special tasting events Heritage Oak, Housley's Century Oak, Oak Farm, Peltier, Rippey Family, St. Amant and The Dancing Fox wineries...

Feb 7, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

At 2024 ZAP, it is clear that California Zinfandel has finally grown up

There is undoubtedly no organization that has done more for a single varietal category than Zinfandel Advocates & Producers, a.k.a. ZAP.

When ZAP started back in the early 1990s, Zinfandel was on the ropes. Many of the bigger, higher profile brands were dropping the varietal from their line-ups. Cabernet Sauvignon had become California's most important varietal red. The popularity of Merlot was growing rapidly, and Pinot noir was being aggressively planted in the cooler climate pockets of the state where it belonged.

This was despite the fact that, for over 100 years, Zinfandel was the tried-and-true grape, adapting far more easily to California's Mediterranean climate than any other variety of Vitis vinifera (i.e., cultivars belonging to the European family of wine grapes) aside from Carignan. At the time, the future of Zinfandel was in serious jeopardy...

Jan 29, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Winter pruning, the crucial time of the year for vineyards, old vine plantings and wine quality

Meticulous winter pruning of the long, twisting arms of head trained, own-rooted Zinfandel first planted during the 1920s in Lodi's Clements Hills appellation.

Winter is coming

Winter, you can say, is the "quiet time" of year in wine regions around the world. Yet there is a lot going on. Not just in the wineries, where cellar hands are busy topping off barrels and getting white wines and rosés resting in tanks or wood ready for bottling. But also in the vineyards, in amongst the plants that are bereft of leaves, seemingly in the midst of a cold and continuously rain-soaked hibernation.

Consider the fact that, depending on plant spacing, there are somewhere from 900 to 1,200 grapevines per acre in most California wine regions. In Lodi, there are over 100,000 acres of planted wine grapes. This means there are over 90 million grapevines that need to be pruned during the course of each winter. If it sounds like a daunting task, it is!

Jan 25, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

For 2024 Lodi Wine & Chocolate Winery Tours (February 3), a description of each winery and their offerings

While Lodi's 2024 Wine & Chocolate weekend is a three-day event—including individual winery dinners on Friday (February 2) and a gala Winemakers Toast at Wine & Roses Hotel on Sunday (February 4)—the main event is still the self-guided, passport style Winery Tours on Saturday (February 3).

On this day, over 35 Lodi appellation wineries will open their doors between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM. They each go all-out to outdo each other with special tastings, delectable treats, live music (at many wineries), and of course, lots of chocolate.

The challenge, as Lodi wine and chocolate lovers have found over the past 26 years, is picking and choosing where to go, as there isn't enough time or capacity (we want you to enjoy your Lodi Wine & Chocolate weekend safely and sensibly!) to go everywhere... 

Jan 19, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink

A masterly photographer shows Nature and Lodi winegrowing under a muscular, jarring, different slant of light

Cutout of photograph exalting a Lodi ancient vine Zinfandel harvest by Allison Watkins.

There are photographers and there are photographers. We have invited Allison Watkins of Allison Watkins Studio to share a photo-essay because of her distinctively artistic feel for wine photography. Particularly her Lodi Viticultural Area photography.

Watkins lives in Napa Valley  and teaches fine art photography. An inveterate inhabitant of the darkroom since high school, she studied fine art photography while taking her BA at San Jose State University, which led to a Master of Fine Arts at San Francisco University...

Jan 15, 2024 at 8:00 AM Permalink