Abba Vineyard turns sunlight into Syrah perfection

Stunning Lodi Wine Country sight: Abba Vineyard Syrah hanging from meticulous Smart-Henry trellis, like brilliant Christmas bulbs on a tree.

Last week Friday (September 13, 2013) Michael McCay of Lodi's vaunted McCay Cellars picked his Grenache from Abba Vineyard – owned by second-generation Lodi farmer Louis Abba Jr., and farmed by his son Phil Abba. Mr. McCay's excitement is palpable – not only because his supply has increased, but also because 2013 looks to be "our best Grenache yet… the fruit was perfect, just popping with flavor coming right off the vine..."

Sep 18, 2013 at 10:52 AM Permalink Comments (1)

Maley harvest harnesses latest technology to produce “pure” Lodi Zinfandel

Through musical vines: Todd Maley sorting Zinfandel in his family’s Weget Vineyard

The Lodi AVA‘s leading winegrowers are no longer shooting just for “varietal” identity in their wines. They are even more focused on producing wines that taste of “Lodi” because, in the end, this is what will set the region apart — not wines that taste like they could come from any other wine region...

Sep 11, 2013 at 11:39 AM Permalink

Lodi’s alternative wine grapes, headed towards photo finish

Majestic 107-year old Carignan vine in Jean Rauser’s east-side Mokelumne River-Lodi vineyard: recalling another era (in the 1970s), when Carignan was the most widely planted wine grape in all of California.

According to the 2012 Grape Acreage Report put out by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, approximately 10.2% of the total acreage of fruit bearing wine grape vines in California can be classified as "other" — including many of the “alternative” style varietals more common to Lodi than in other American wine regions, such as Albariño and Aglianico, Cinsaut and Souzão, Vermentino and Verdelho, Graciano and Teroldego, Marzemino and Montepulciano, Symphony and Schönburger, Touriga and Torrontés, Pinotage and Piquepoul, and many others of, frankly, commercially obscure identity, from Albalonga to Zweigelt...

Sep 5, 2013 at 12:17 PM Permalink Comments (1)

Just picked: one of Lodi’s top Zinfandel vineyards and last of Bechthold Cinsaut

“I was on fire when I woke up this morning,” says Jillian Johnson, the owner/winemaker of Onesta Wines.  On Friday, August 30, Ms. Johnson was the last of the slate of stellar winemakers to pick Cinsaut grapes from Bechthold Vineyard, the Lodi AVA‘s oldest vineyard (originally planted by Joseph Spenker in 1886).  “I’m always stoked the day I pick Bechthold,” says Johnson.  “Year in and year out, this vineyard performs no matter what, giving us beautiful, balanced fruit.  It was a great day when Mother Nature first gave us Bechthold.”  Johnson, in fact, has been working with Bechthold  longer than any of the winemakers currently sourcing from this venerated growth (since 2004, when she was the winemaker for Bonny Doon Vineyard)

Aug 30, 2013 at 11:25 AM Permalink

2013 harvest continues (Kerner, Albariño, and Cinsaut from Lodi’s oldest vineyard)

Yesterday (August 21, 2013) Borra Vineyards picked their Kerner grapes, which are grown by Brett Koth at his family’s Mokelumne Glen Vineyards, tucked into the tip of the Mokelumne River’s “Peninsula” (where the river bends into an upside-down u-shape, on the east side of the Mokelumne River AVA).  The Lodi AVA‘s Mokelumne Glen, for the record, cultivates the most extensive collection of German and Austrian grapes (over 40 varieties, whites and reds) on the entire West Coast.

Aug 23, 2013 at 11:06 AM Permalink

How to taste wine, and separate cinnamon from clove, women from the men, etc.

Wine tasting, as most people would tell you, can be difficult (please see Wine 101:  tasting and talking).  But here’s one thing most wine experts agree on:  women make better wine tasters than men.

A lot of it is cultural:  more women than men, to begin with, cook meals in kitchens, and being able to distinguish smells – which in foods and wines are what constitute “flavor” – is key to being able to cook well.  Many men, of course, also cook well (needless to say, most restaurant chefs are males).  Thus, many men taste wine just as well as women.

However, there is one thing about most men that can’t be helped:  they tend to be, well, like “men.”  That is, macho.  There is a famous American importer of French wines named Kermit Lynch who first openly discussed the “excess baggage” of men’s macho-ness.  In an October 1999 issue of Food & Wine Lynch was quoted to say, “Men seem to believe that they are wine experts just because they are men.  When they stick their nose into a glass of wine they think it would be unmanly to say something wrong or stupid.  So they get uptight.  It is difficult to taste properly when you are uptight…

Aug 15, 2013 at 10:57 AM Permalink

LangeTwins kicks off 2013 harvest with picking of Sauvignon Musqué

Last week Friday and Saturday (August 9-10), LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards kicked off their 2013 harvest in Lodi by picking their 50-acre Jahant Rd. vineyard planted to Sauvignon Musqué – a clonal variant of Sauvignon Blanc that produces more flowery, less herbaceous white wines than other varieties of Sauvignon Blanc.

Aug 12, 2013 at 10:53 AM Permalink

Michael David picks 2013 Chardonnay (early spring leads to one of Lodi’s earliest harvests)

This past Monday, August 5 Lodi’s Phillips Farms (the agricultural arm of Michael David Winery) began its second week of harvest 2013 with a picking of Chardonnay at their Bare Ranch property on Woodbridge Rd.  “In my lifetime,” says Kevin Phillips, the Phillips family’s VP of Operations and vineyard manager, “2013 is only the second time we ever started picking in July… the first time was in 2003.”

Aug 7, 2013 at 10:48 AM Permalink

Having a “Dream” International Albarino Day (August 3)

TAPAS – the Tempranillo Advocates Producers & Amigos Society – has announced that this Saturday, August 3, 2013 will be the second International Albariño Day, during which wine lovers around the world are encouraged to show a bottle of Albariño some love, while sharing the experience via Twitter with the hashtag #AlbarinoFiesta .

Aug 1, 2013 at 10:42 AM Permalink

Pictorial guide to what makes Lodi Zinfandel so unique

Note the small, loose berried Zinfandel cluster from the +100-year old Noma Ranch Zinfandel, growing on its own natural roots in the porous beach sand-like soils of Lodi/Mokelumne River’s east side

So you think you know Lodi Zinfandel? If you are ready to get your geek on, let’s delve into the six major reasons why Lodi grown Zinfandels are the way they are: so compellingly lush, round, gentle, bright, and often distinctly earthy…

Jul 30, 2013 at 10:39 AM Permalink