Lodi growers and winemakers speak frankly about 2017 harvest thus far

Lodi's 2017 Cemetery Vineyard Zinfandel pick in late August

“Biblical” can be great, or not so great, and 2017 has been that kind of vintage.

But as of this writing – the week of September 11-15 – Lodi Viticultural Area growers and winemakers have been looking at the 2017 crop through their usual rose-colored shades, or glass-half-full mentality; even in a challenging (to put it mildly) season, which started off with winter deluges and has since been topped off by a record-breaking succession of late August/early September 100-degree days.

While issues like rot or raisining can be sorted out in the wineries, these problems factor into yields; with most growers and wineries reporting varying percentages of lower than normal crops, depending upon the variety. But as usual, the best winemakers and vineyards will still produce the best wines; maybe even "better" than normal (then again, what is "normal" these days?)...

Sep 13, 2017 at 3:15 PM Permalink

Acquiesce harvests first crop of Clairette Blanche and Bourboulenc

Clairette Blanche harvest in Lodi's Acquiesce estate

Hate to say it, but Acquiesce Winery has had big problems since the day they first opened their doors in 2011: They sell out of every one of their bottlings within months, if not weeks – such is the overwhelming response to their pure, airy, 100% unoaked style of white wines (plus one rosé). This, of course, has been forcing them to close their doors for a few months each year.

The only solution? Make more wine. But for Acquiesce’s Sue Tipton – who will only produce wines grown 100% on her own property, located at the northern edge of Lodi’s Mokelumne River appellation, at E. Peltier and Tretheway Roads – this means planting more grapes...

Sep 6, 2017 at 4:33 PM Permalink

2017 Cemetery Zinfandel harvest (agony of Nature, ecstasy of meticulous viticulture)

Cemetery Vineyard owner/grower Aaron Shinn samples his 2017 Zinfandel harvest

It’s always been said that in the most challenging vintages for any wine region – rain, snow, hail, drought, floods, hot seasons, cold seasons, rampant diseases or pests, anything that Mother Nature may throw at you – it’s the best growers, in the most favorable sites, that end up standing out far above the crowd.

Whatever the case may be, there’s nothing that Aaron Shinn – G.M. of Lodi’s Round Valley Ranches as well as owner of Shinn Farms – likes better than a challenge. And so far, 2017 has been as challenging a vintage as any.

At the break of dawn past Wednesday, August 23, Mr. Shinn walked and talked us through long, arduous road leading up to this particular moment of truth: the harvesting of 2017 Zinfandel from his own Cemetery Vineyard; located on the east side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River Viticultural Area, right across a country road from the Cherokee Memorial Park & Funeral Home...

Aug 28, 2017 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Silvaspoons Vineyards’ latest Iberian innovation (Mencía!) and Verdelho harvest

2017 Silvaspoons Vineyards Verdelho harvest

Promising 2017 Verdelho Harvest

6:30 AM, this past Tuesday, August 22 in Lodi’s Alta Mesa appellation: Ron Silva’s harvest crew had already filled three half-ton macro-bins of just-picked Silvaspoons Vineyards Verdelho – green tinted golden, oval shaped orbs of tropical fruit sensations, zapped with palate slaking, lemon-lime acidity. You could practically taste the type of light, dry refreshingly high-toned white wines these grapes will soon become...

Aug 22, 2017 at 9:00 PM Permalink

Oh lord, Lodi! (plus 13 wines exemplifying contemporary Lodi)

Darling of contemporary consumers: Grenache Blanc harvest at Acquiesce Vineyard

Over 650 Lodi wine blog posts ago...

In August 2010 we posted our first lodiwine.com blog – entitled, “Oh lord, a blog from the heart of Lodi wine country,” which we are reproducing below to demonstrate how our focus has remained the same over the past seven years: To turn both consumers and professional wine lovers on to the fact that Lodi grows and produces wines that stack up against the best in the world – in its own fashion, of course.

At the end of this flashback we give detailed notes on 13 Lodi grown wines that didn’t exist in 2010, but have since come to represent the competitive quality as well as unprecedented diversity (at least since the ‘60s, when the California wine industry wasn’t so Chard-, Pinot- or Cabernet-centric) for which the Lodi Viticultural Area is now known...

Aug 14, 2017 at 6:00 AM Permalink

The 100 (plus!) grapes of Lodi

July colors of Blauer Affenthaler, a very old yet rare German grape, planted in Lodi's Mokelumne Glen Vineyards

If anything, the Lodi Viticultural Area is prolific. We now count 126 grape varieties planted in the region; all variations of Vitis vinifera, belonging to the original European family or species of wine grapes.

Why Lodi? Simply put, this is where the California wine industry sources most of the grapes going into wines sold for $10 and under, which is about 74% of all the wine sold in the U.S. (re our recent report on the 2017 Wine Economics Symposium)...

Aug 9, 2017 at 6:00 AM Permalink

Borra's Markus Niggli reflects on the explosion of red wine blends

Winemaker Markus Nigglis sampling Borra Vineyards harvest

During the past three, four years, Borra Vineyards winemaker Markus Niggli has justifiably garnered considerable media accolades and consumer enthusiasm for his blends of white wine grapes; primarily sourced from Mokelumne Glen Vineyards – an east side riverside vineyard now planted with 50 German and Austrian wine grapes.

But lost among all the hullabaloo is this pervasive fact: Niggli is also a master of red wine blends; all bottled under special Borra Vineyards labels (Niggli’s white wine blends are bottled under the Markus Wine Co. label)...

Aug 7, 2017 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Influential wine writers recall their first "ah-ha" Lodi moments

Seeing Lodi wine through rose colored wine glasses

The first time is always the sweetest! Or so it’s said.

Of course, we’re talking about the first time certain influential wine professionals and journalists tasted a Lodi grown wine (or several wines) and thought, “Lodi is for real!”

Aug 1, 2017 at 6:00 AM Permalink

Lodi celebrates International Albariño Day with a 6-winery “Tour”

In recent years, so many Lodi based wineries have begun producing white wines fashioned from the Albariño grape, it’s practically become “Lodi’s Chardonnay.”

In fact, you can probably make an argument for that, since you will now find more Lodi wineries producing Albariño rather than Chardonnay, and for good reason: Albariño produces the type of dry, medium bodied (not heavy, not light), crisply balanced and fragrant (and almost always, oak-free!) white wine that suits more and more wine lovers’ tastes – especially for the foods we love (think fresh summer salads, ceviches, sushi, sashimi, cold soups, shrimp on ice, oysters in half-shells...).

Lodi is no "ordinary" wine region!

Jul 26, 2017 at 2:00 PM Permalink

Ripken's latest bold moves with Sagrantino and Teroldego

Lodi's Rip Ripken opening his latest bottlings of rare (for California) varietals

Lodi’s Richard “Rip” Ripken has long been known for a philosophy he describes, simply, as taking the “road less travelled.” For Ripken, who owns Ripken Vineyards & Winery, it means several things.

For one, exploring off-beaten paths around the world. It was Italy’s Umbria region, for instance, that Ripken and his wife Nancy first discovered the joys of Sagrantino – the grape of Sangrantino di Montefalco, ranked as an Italian DOCG (the country’s highest quality classification. That was in 2012...

Jul 24, 2017 at 10:00 AM Permalink