Do women drink wine differently from men? (Lodi gold medals at International Women’s Wine Competition)

LangeTwins Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc in mid-June 2018

Last week, the International Women’s Wine Competition announced the results of their 2018 (and 11th Annual) judging, which took place June 19-20 in Sonoma County, California. More than 1,190 wines were reportedly entered in this judging; and out of that, 171 gold medals were awarded, along with 56 “Best of Class” winners.

Among the Lodi grown wines produced by Lodi based wineries garnering golds:

• 2017 Acquiesce, Lodi Picpoul Blanc ($28)
• 2017 Acquiesce, Lodi Grenache Rosé ($25)
• 2015 Mettler Family, Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon ($25)
• 2017 Sand Point, Lodi Sauvignon Blanc ($12) 

In addition to a gold, Sand Point's Sauvignon blanc – grown and produced by Lodi’s LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards – was also distinguished by a Best of Class award...

Jun 27, 2018 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Bokisch's Lodi grown wines making a huge splash in Hawaii

Exotic fermented honeydew with nasturtiums served at Club Kukui'ula with Bokisch's Garnacha Blanca

The Lodi grown wines of Bokisch Vineyards – predominantly made from grapes that originated in Spain – have been sold in the Hawaiian Islands for over ten years. But in a way, it is mostly within the past two years that they have really begun to make a huge splash.

Why? We suspect for the same reasons why Bokisch Vineyards wines have been selling out faster and faster right here in Lodi: Because more and more consumers are gravitating to lighter, crisper, fresh fruit (and less oak) focused styles of white wines and dry rosés; and are also going more for red wines that are unabashedly fragrant and spice scented, with less emphasis on tannin, excess alcohol and (as in whites and rosés) oak...

Jun 21, 2018 at 7:00 AM Permalink

The Zen of barbecue: Michael David’s Petite Sirahs and two ways of baby back ribs

Lodi's Mike McCay (winemaker/owner, McCay Cellars) smoking his dry rubbed baby back ribs

The summer of 2018 is upon us (starting June 21st!), and you can almost hear the squeaky sound of grills being wheeled out into backyard patios in preparation for that season of all seasons for the outdoorsy, culinary minded: Barbecue!

Barbecue is like Zen, in that (to borrow an analogy from zen-buddhism.net) when trying to describe the taste of barbecue to someone who has never tasted it, you can try to explain the aromas and sensations of it, or you can compare and correlate it with similar foods. However, barbecue is barbecue... when you live it, you know it!

And what we know is that barbecue is not the same kind of food you prepare indoors, in your kitchen. Barbecue means foods with smoky or even charred and caramelized flavors. Maybe it’s the caveman in all of us, but for some reason that taste sensation gets the mind, and palate, salivating. And like cavemen, we frequently need a good beverage; perhaps beer or iced tea, but preferably a good, zingy wine of a certain type...

Jun 14, 2018 at 7:00 AM Permalink

America’s first Mencía and sharpened tastes of Lodi terroir at PRIE Winery

2017 Mencía in Lodi's Silvaspoons Vineyards

In 2017 Silvaspoons Vineyards’ Ron Silva harvested his first crop of Mencía at his Alta Mesa-Lodi ranch. As far as we know, this is the U.S.’s first commercial planting of the grape.

Mencía – native of the northwest regions of Spain, close to Portugal – is a late-to-the-party black skinned grape, enjoying relatively modest yet intense adoration among connoisseurs of Spanish red wines only within the past 15 years...

Jun 8, 2018 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Why big time producers like Ridge and Neyers are mining Lodi for Zinfandel

Bokisch Ranches' Vista Luna Vineyard in Lodi's Borden Ranch AVA (the rocky hillside source of Neyers' Vista Luna Zinfandel)

Over the weekend we received a note from David Gates, who is V.P. of Vineyard Operations for Ridge Vineyards – a winery that deserves all the credit in the world for being the first modern day California producer to take Zinfandel seriously.

According to Gates: “We are excited about coming back to Lodi after a loooong hiatus. We are looking to diversify our Zinfandel portfolio to help spread out the harvest; and we have seen how Lodi has changed in the last ten or so years – with better, or different, viticulture...”

Jun 5, 2018 at 11:30 AM Permalink

Lodi’s Mettler Family and Chef Bradley Ogden team up for a culinary tour de force

At Wine & Roses Hotel's Towne House Restaurant, Mettler Family Director of Sales Kelli Mettler-Costamagna being served by sommelier Scott Reesman

Last week Wednesday (May 23, 2018), Lodi wine country's Mettler Family Vineyards hosted a most “unusual” wine dinner at Towne House Restaurant in Wine & Roses Hotel & Spa.

Instead of showing off the wines for which they are best known from Hawaii to New York – namely, their acclaimed, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon, their powerful Petite Sirah, and their classically rich and chunky Zinfandel – they presented a dinner highlighting their lesser known, alternative style wines...

May 29, 2018 at 3:00 PM Permalink

Lasting images of Lodi's 2018 ZinFest weekend

Lodi grower/vintners Jorja and Kyle Lerner (Harney Lane Winery) at ZinFest Vintner's Grille

Another year, another memorable Lodi ZinFest, which took place last week May 18-19, 2018.

ZinFest is Lodi wine country's biggest event of each year, and the thousands of wine lovers who attend cannot be wrong about that fact! For those who have attended ZinFests of years past, the exciting thing is being part of a wine culture that has quickly become one of the world's most important... 

May 26, 2018 at 8:00 AM Permalink

16-wine blind tasting: Exactly how do Lodi grown wines compare to the rest of the world’s?

Taking notes on Tempranillo flight at pre-ZinFest blind tasting (photo by Frances Siria)

Exactly how do Lodi wines compare to not only those of the rest of California, but also to counterparts in France, Spain, New Zealand, or other wine regions of the world?

This was the question addressed at our 16-wine blind tasting held last week Friday (May 18, 2018), as a ZinFest pre-event. The goal was not to find who makes the “best” wines. As the classic British wine writer André Simon once put it: We can all have good taste, but not the same taste. Our purpose, rather, was to “discover” sensory distinctions. What makes Lodi different – and in that sense, what makes Lodi wines worthwhile?

May 23, 2018 at 5:20 PM Permalink

Geeking out on three varietals personifying Lodi's ZinFest diversity

Grenache blanc harvest in Acquiesce Winery's Mokelumne River-Lodi estate

As one of our “pre-ZinFest” events this Friday (May 18), we are holding our second 16-wine “Lodi vs. the world” blind tasting – and event, alas, that has been sold out.

In preparing for remarks to share on the four Lodi grown grape varieties that will be featured in this tasting, we found ourselves geeking out on the fascinating history, going back hundreds of years, of each varietal category. If you’re a wine fanatic, this turns you on.

As it turns out, the exercise also makes a great preview of the dozens of different wine types that wine lovers will be able to experience at this Saturday’s (May 19) 2018 ZinFest Wine Festival – and for that, you can still purchase tickets at pre-event rates (please visit zinfest.com for online sales).

You don’t want to miss it! Meanwhile... the facts, ma’am, just the facts, on three of the four varietal categories we will be studying in earnest at this Friday’s blind tasting...

May 16, 2018 at 12:00 PM Permalink

The exhilarating range and food versatility of Lodi’s dry rosés

LangeTwins Family's Lodi Sangiovese Rosé (photo courtesy of LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards)

You may have noticed, lately here in Lodi, that everything’s been coming up rosés.

For good reason. Because of its warm yet mild and steady Mediterranean climate – not unlike France’s Provence region, the source of easily the world’s largest sea of rosés – dry pink wines of premium, and even world class, quality seem to come easily to the Lodi Viticultural Area...

May 10, 2018 at 3:30 PM Permalink