Letters from Lodi
An insightful and objective look at viticulture and winemaking from the Lodi
Appellation and the growers and vintners behind these crafts. Told from the
perspective of multi-award winning wine journalist, Randy Caparoso.
A Lodi wine lover’s wish list: Lodi’s 12 most adventurous wines
Is there a wiser wine lover than a Lodi wine lover?
Lodi is just beginning to forge its reputation as a source of some America's finest, and most cutting-edge, wines. Many of the leading producers in this respect have been around for less than ten, fifteen years.
Continue »Three things that matter (when getting the most out of wine)
GETTING SOME FUN OUT OF WINE
When most of us enjoy our wine, we don't like to think about it too much. We don't need to ooh and ah over the "bouquet," and we don't need to take tiny sips and roll the wine in our mouth for 60 seconds before pronouncing it good.
Continue »How to be your own judge of good wine
Burgundy, schmurgundy
I started out on Burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff. Not really. But that line from one of Bob Dylan's classic old songs (Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues) always sounded great.
Continue »A French style Thanksgiving in Lodi (with Provence style leg of lamb)
How does a French winemaker named Franck Lambert, with his India-born wife Rekha, celebrate Thanksgiving here in Lodi?
Monsieur Lambert was born in Southern France and educated at University of Montpellier (where he attained a Master's degree in winemaking). He has been a quiet but influential part of the Lodi winemaking community over the past 12 years.
Continue »Three reasons why you should open a Lodi Zinfandel on National Zinfandel Day
This coming Wednesday, November 19, 2014 is National Zinfandel Day.
We know, we know: there's a day for everything these days. But National Zinfandel Day holds significance in Lodi because:
Continue »Having a Lodi Thanksgiving
LET YOUR TURKEY BE YOUR THANKSGIVING WINE GUIDE
Is there anything more American than turkey for Thanksgiving, with all the extra delectable accoutrements?
Continue »Michael Klouda’s Stem Theory is unoppressively contrarian
Call the newly released 2013 Michael Klouda (MK) Stem Theory Lodi Cabernet Franc ($26) what you like: confused, contrarian, counter-intuitive, confounding – but you can't call it boring.
It is, in fact, the perfect red wine for wine lovers who like a little bit of wildness, even rawness, in their wine, tingling your nose and scraping your tongue – but in a gentle, unoppressive sort of way. Michael Klouda Wines‘ 2013 Stem Theory does just that: a purplish red wine delivering an array of aromas – fresh raspberry and dried berries mixed with green, leafy/herbal notes – wrapped in a medium body with moderately weighted tannin, coming across as both velvety smooth and a little prickly and, well, a little wild, a tiny bit raw. Like the dashingly dangerous boy that you can take home to mom and dad.
Continue »Lodi’s Coup de Grâce is a red wine blend to end all blends
The expression coup de grâce technically means putting someone out of his or her misery, in a most violent fashion. But here in Lodi, it is now means a gloriously rich and original red wine – a thick, bloody red, if you will.
Continue »Discovering your own taste in wine beyond 100-point scores
100-point scores for rating wines: not every retail store features them as their "shelf talkers," but it seems like most of them do. But let the wine buyer beware: 100-point numerical scales – which strongly suggest some kind of authoritative mathematical precision – are, in fact, rarely accurate in terms of assessing true quality, and are more likely to provide you with a totally hit-and-miss idea of what wines you may enjoy most.
Continue »Beauty of whole berry Sangiovese fermentation at Sorelle Winery
We want to revisit our video taken of Sorelle Winery estate's 2014 Sangiovese harvest this past September 19 because it
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