Vintage images of early 1900s when Lodi transformed from a Wild West town into a respectable City

Lodi "Tokay Princess" postcard image from 1907 (left) next to a modern day Tokay grape bearing lass (right)

Lodi during the latter half of the 1800s, writes local historian Toni Christman in Our Time to Shine (2012), was "an unruly child, gathering strangers from all walks of life migrating from (nearby) Lockeford, Stockton, Sacramento in addition to other existing nearby settlements. Lodi was sometimes referred to as a ‘rum-guzzling’ town with young boys on the road to hell...”

Jul 14, 2020 at 11:30 AM Permalink

Cliff Ohmart shares his firsthand detailed history of Lodi's groundbreaking sustainable winegrowing program

Uniformly seeded cover crop, a basic sustainable practice, in Bare Ranch owned by the Phillips family (who also own Michael David Winery), farming in Lodi since the 1860s

Last month (June 2020) we received a note from Clifford P. Ohmart — called, simply, "Cliff" by his colleagues throughout the agricultural industry as well as in Lodi, where he served as Lodi Winegrape Commission's Sustainable Winegrowing Director from 1996 to 2009. Prompted by our recent series detailing the history of winegrowing in the Lodi Viticultural Area, Dr. Ohmart suggested that we also consider posting "a detailed history of the evolution of Lodi's sustainable winegrowing program." Cliff's reasoning...

Jul 9, 2020 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Galloping Hills Ranch in Lodi's far eastern hills grows distinctively hand crafted Merlot and Albariño

Fern and MaryAnn Simoneau, owner/growers of Galloping Hills Ranch in Lodi's Clements Hills AVA

On their website, Lodi's Galloping Hills Ranch describes itself as a "winery, vineyard, bed & breakfast." All of this is true, except for the fact that the current pandemic has prevented owners Fern and MaryAnn Simoneau from welcoming their very first guests to their Airbnb, ensconced on the floor above their horse stable and modest little winery/tasting room, sporting spectacular views of their 8.7 acres of Merlot and Albariño planted in the rolling hills of Clements Hills-Lodi.

The Simoneaus did not plant their vineyard — the vines came with their property when they purchased it in 2005 — but they were smart enough to know that the possibilities for a Lodi estate unlike any other would be endless. And besides, according to Mr. Simoneau, "Lodi has never been known for great Merlot, but we felt that this property was special enough to change that..."

Jul 7, 2020 at 7:00 AM Permalink

A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 9 — Lodi's Jahant, Cosumnes River and Alta Mesa Viticultural Areas

Reddish sandy/clay loam soil and blue oak characteristic of Lodi's Jahant AVA along Liberty Rd.

Continued from: A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 8 — Lodi's Clements Hills, Borden Ranch and Sloughhouse Viticultural Areas

San Joaquin Series Soil

The distinguishing common denominator shared by the Jahant, Cosumnes River and Alta Mesa AVAs — sandwiched between the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the west and the lower foothill appellations of Clements Hills, Borden Ranch and Sloughhouse to the east — is their variations of the official California state soil (since 1997) classified in the San Joaquin series. San Joaquin soils are characteristic of the lower elevation (generally below 100-ft.), terraced, shallow-topsoil, floodplain topography predominant in much of Northern San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley...

Jul 2, 2020 at 9:00 AM Permalink

How PRIE's Marzemino personifies Lodi moxie and originality

The large yet loose, deeply pigmented, moderate berry sized cluster architecture of the rare and esoteric Marzemino grape, grown in Mokelumne River-Lodi's Hux Vineyard

PRIE Winery, one of Lodi's smaller handcraft wine producers, has just released a red wine made from a grape called Marzemino.

Why in the world, you may ask, should you sit up and pay attention to a wine called Marzemino when there are so many other fine wines out there, made from the usual, dependable grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, etc.)?

Jun 30, 2020 at 8:00 AM Permalink

A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 8 — Lodi's Clements Hills, Borden Ranch and Sloughhouse Viticultural Areas

Cobbled, orangy-red clay clay hillside vineyard typifying Lodi vineyards in the Borden Ranch AVA

Continued from: A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 7 — the Mokelumne River Viticultural Area

The Lodi Winegrowing Industry's Expansion Into Hillside Appellations

There are reasons why growers and winemakers look upon Lodi as a sum of different parts — hence, the 2005 establishment of seven nested AVAs.

Most of Lodi's growth as a wine region over the past 25 years has been outside the original area surrounding the City of Lodi, which is defined by an extremely deep sandy loam (i.e. Tokay series) soil on a visibly flat, lower elevation (0 to 150-ft.) plain. This historic area — where the vast majority of Lodi’s old or ancient vine plantings (50 to over 100 years old) are located — is officially recognized as the Mokelumne River AVA...

Jun 25, 2020 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Nostra Vita Family Winery'a serendipitous growth into a major traditional method sparkling wine company

Nostra Vita Family Winery proprietors Robert Indelicato and Leslie Bloudoff in their Old Ice House production facility

Lodi's Nostra Vita Family Winery is, as the name implies, a family affair: nostra vita being Italian for "our life," and the famiglia consisting of the owners Robert Indelicato (Winemaker) and Leslie Bloudoff (President), and their children Katie Bloudoff-Indelicato (Sales & Marketing) and Kyle Bloudoff-Indelicato (Assistant Winemaker/Cellar Master).

Although they are still, visibly speaking, "new" to the Lodi wine community — in September 2018, establishing their tasting room at the W. Turner Rd. location once occupied by the Mencarini family's Abundance Vineyards — they first started up their specialty champagne style sparkling wine business in 2014, and their production facility has been housed in the historic "Old Ice House" in Downtown Lodi since 2017...

Jun 23, 2020 at 8:00 AM Permalink

A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 7 — the Mokelumne River Viticultural Area

Classic plus-100-year-old Zinfandel growing on its own natural roots in deep, rich yet porous, sand dune-like soil typifying much of the east side of the Mokelumne River-Lodi AVA

Continued from: A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 6 — Lodi begets seven nested AVAs

The Storie Index Clearly Defining Lodi's Seven Sub-Appellations

When drawing up their 2005 proposal for seven new nested sub-AVAs to submit to the TTB, the growers and vintners representing the LAVA (Lodi American Viticultural Areas) Steering Committee also included a Storie Index chart, illustrating the differences between the growing regions based upon soil vigor and production capacity. Storie Index classifications were originally developed in the 1930s by R. Earl Storie at University of California, and has served as a method of determining the suitability of agricultural products to regions, as well as a means of economic valuation... 

Jun 18, 2020 at 9:00 AM Permalink

Exotic plan for early summer fêting — Mettler Family's Muscat Canelli and steamed whole fish

LODI RULES Certified Green block in Mettler Family's home estate on Lodi's east side

Summer starts this Saturday, so let's talk about white wines!

It is a mistake, to begin with, to dismiss slightly sweet or medium sweet white wines out of hand. When well balanced with lots of palate freshening acidity you hardly noticed the sweetness, and that's when they become more of a connoisseur's wine: like the 2019 Mettler Family Vineyards Salice Bianco Lodi Muscat Canelli ($19), which is a stunningly exotic marvel — light as air, delicate as a flower petal (weighing in at only 10% alcohol), and redolent with fragrances and fruit qualities suggesting honeysuckle, frangipani (what they call plumeria in Hawaii), drippy white peach and mandarin orange blossoms, finishing with an unerringly balanced, lip smacking freshness despite nearly 4% residual sugar...

Jun 15, 2020 at 8:00 AM Permalink

A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 6 — Lodi begets seven nested AVAs

Rolling hillside topography typifying Lodi's Clements Hills sub-AVA

Continued from: A history of Lodi winegrowing, part 5 — establishment of the Lodi AVA

2006 Division into Seven Nested AVAs

In August 2006, the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) approved the usage of seven new American Viticultural Areas (a.k.a. AVAs) falling within the broader Lodi AVA. At that time, the question in the minds of a lot of people among the wine industry, the media and consumers was: why?

Isn’t getting anyone to recognize Lodi as an existing wine region hard enough, without complicating the matter with seven more sub-regions, or "nested" AVAs?

Jun 10, 2020 at 8:00 AM Permalink