Bokisch Vineyards opens new tasting room in Lodi's Clements Hills

Markus and Liz Bokisch at the entrance of the new Bokisch Vineyards tasting room

Bokisch Vineyards’ Terra Alta Vineyard has always been one of Lodi wine country’s most spectacular, photogenic, yet very rarely seen (at least by visiting wine lovers) sites. 

It sits in Lodi’s Clements Hills Viticultural Area, east of the City of Lodi, which is a region of bucolic, rolling hills and gravelly clay soils – in dramatic contrast to the flat, sandy loam landscape of Lodi’s more historic Mokelumne River AVA, surrounding the little City of Lodi.

Mar 9, 2016 at 3:30 PM Permalink Comments (3)

Wine grape IQ test (ah, sweet mystery of Lodi whites)

Visiting L.A. sommelier with white wine grapes in Lodi's Silvaspoons Vineyards

In lieu of our last post (Is Lodi best for white wines?), would you care to put your white wine grape IQ (i.e. geek meter) to the test?

We would like to do this by quoting snippets from a book that was published just last year, James Halliday’s Varietal Wines (Hardie Grant Books); in which this famed Australia based author describes the origins and sensory qualities common to 130 grape varieties. This may sound like a lot of grapes; but bear in mind that when British wine author Jancis Robinson first published her Guide to Wine Grapes back in 1996, she listed about 800 different wine grapes. There are all kinds of wines grown around the world!

Mar 7, 2016 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Acquiesce answers question - is Lodi best for white wines?

Grenache Blanc grapes in Lodi's Acquiesce Vineyards

More than ever, the wines of Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards – a small producer of exclusively estate grown wines located at Peltier and N. Tretheway Roads on Lodi’s east side – have come to epitomize what more and more people think about Lodi as a winegrowing region: an ideal place for white wines.

Did we say whites? Isn’t Lodi better known for red wines? Yes and yes. But a lot of what Lodi grows is not necessarily because of what is “best” to grow here, from the standpoint of viticulture. Lodi growers have always cultivated what the wine market demands; and right now, that means mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, a lot of Zinfandel and Merlot, and dozens of lesser known grapes for which more and more specialty producers, big and small, are clamoring. Forty years ago it was tons of Carignan, Tokay and Chenin Blanc. You do what you gotta do.

Mar 2, 2016 at 8:00 AM Permalink

Deep thoughts on Uvaggio Vermentino

Vermentino in Lodi's Bella Vigna Vineyard

“Time changes everything,” goes that old, wonderful song by Tommy Duncan, sung with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys....

Vermentino is one of those exotic sounding wine grapes that are still foreign to most Americans. We’re devoting an entire blog to this emerging variety produced by a winemaker/owner named Jim Moore: the 2013 Uvaggio Lodi Vermentino ($14). Not because we’re trying to show off our wine I.Q., or the fact that that we can play wine-trivial-pursuit with the snootiest of sommeliers; but because it is a genuinely amazing dry white wine that deserves an unabashed shut-out. Or at least an occasional blogpost of its own.

Feb 29, 2016 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Zinfandel (and ZAP) at a crossroads

Wintering 100-year-old Zinfandel in McCay's Lot 13 on Lodi's east side

This is the Big Week for Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (a.k.a. ZAP): their annual Experience in San Francisco, self-billed as “the world’s largest single varietal wine tasting event.”

This year, three days of seminars and parties are capped by a “Grand Tasting” at Pier 27 on the Embarcadero on Saturday, February 27, 2016; when consumers may pick and sip among hundreds of wines, produced by California’s finest Zinfandel specialists. A literal Bacchanal.

Though, these are funny times for Zinfandel. As a varietal, it is still an awkward, bratty, painfully hormonal adolescent...  Continue »

Feb 22, 2016 at 1:30 PM Permalink Comments (3)

Where to find Lodi's alternative style wines during Wine & Chocolate Weekend

Wine & Chocolate Weekend in Lodi's Harmony Wynelands

Are you ready for Lodi's Wine & Chocolate Weekend? We are!

One of the things that excites Lodi wine lovers the most these days is that the region is no longer just about Zinfandel, Lodi's pièce de resistance. Nor is it only about “standard” varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc, however wonderful they may be.

Feb 11, 2016 at 10:20 AM Permalink

Lodi wine and chocolate - seduction at first sight

Cacao pods in the raw (before turned into culinary sexiness)

For the past four vintages the official co-sponsor of our Lodi Wine & Chocolate celebration – in 2016, taking place this Saturday and Sunday, February 13-14 – has been BRIX Chocolate (commercial message: it is not too late to get your passes online at lodiwineandchocolate.com!).

Feb 8, 2016 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Beyond Super Bowl 50: why you should be in Lodi!

San Francisco's Alexandra Fondren (here, at Lodi ZinFest) shares her favorite things to do in Lodi wine country

Attention Super Bowl 50 visitors: where is the place to be this weekend or following the Big Day? 

Why, in California wine country, of course. Not just any part of California; even better, the historic Lodi wine region, which was recently named the 2015 Wine Region of the Year by Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Feb 5, 2016 at 2:00 PM Permalink

MK Zinfandel - agonies and ecstasies of micro-scaled wine

Michael Klouda sampling one of his MK Zinfandel barrels

In the world of wine, there are always Davids and Goliaths.  

Feb 1, 2016 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Lodi's Michael David Winery named Winery of the Year at 2016 Unified Symposium

Michael David Winery co-owners Michael and David Phillips (image courtesy of John Curley Photography)

And the hits just keep on coming...

There was a surprise announcement this past Wednesday, January 27 at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento: Lodi’s Michael David Winery was named 2016 Winery of the Year.

Jan 28, 2016 at 8:26 PM Permalink