Odisea releases first Lodi grown Verdejo

Lodi’s first Verdejo

Odisea Wine Company – a small, artisanal winery based in Napa – has produced Lodi's first Verdejo: a 2013 bottled under their Flor de Viña sub-label. The Verdejo grapes were grown in the cobbley clay loam slopes of Bokisch Ranches' Clay Station Vineyard, in Lodi's Borden Ranch AVA. The planting went into the ground in 2011, and these young vines yielded just 2 tons per acre (Bokisch Vineyards also produced a little Verdejo, just recently bottled).

Mar 9, 2014 at 12:20 PM Permalink

Winter of 2014′s certain Slant of light

Winter pruning of own-rooted, head trained 53-year old Zinfandel vines on the west side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA

There’s a certain Slant of light, Emily Dickinson famously wrote, describing “Winter.” Don’t we know it, whether or not we can put it into our own words.

Mar 7, 2014 at 2:10 PM Permalink

m2′s sleek new winery, producing Lodi wines as unique as ever

m2′s dramatically high ceilinged new tasting room

The new m2 Wines winery and tasting room, located at 2900 E. Peltier Rd. (just north of the town of Lodi), is a low slung, rectangular, 6,000 square-feet affair; looking like a gigantic lego brick with a square hole near the middle, plopped down on an open field of flowering mustard (a surrounding vineyard is planned as phase 2), yet every bit as congruous against the Lodi landscape as an Andrew Wyeth house/barn in Maine.

Mar 3, 2014 at 2:37 PM Permalink

Lodi Native group to debut at ZAP/LoCA’s Lodi Zinfandel Experience

“This ol’ truck” in Lodi’s Harney Lane Winery estate…

ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) & LoCA present
THE LODI ZINFANDEL EXPERIENCE
Saturday-Sunday, March 29 & 30, 2014

Earth shaking things are happening in the Lodi AVA, which has always crushed over 40% of California's Zinfandels. Today, a significant percentage of this crop – still sourced from largely own (or St. George) rooted, head trained ancient vines – is going into handcrafted bottlings, unveiling a style of Zinfandel hitherto unsuspected, and surprisingly contemporary.

Feb 20, 2014 at 10:07 AM Permalink

The problem with reading alcohols and other assumptions about California Zinfandel

Winter mustards coming up between old vine Lodi Zinfandel

To truly grasp Lodi Zinfandel, it helps to understand how they compare with Zinfandels from other California wine regions

The problem is, there is a lot of misinformation out there; often perpetuated by journalists or, these days, by wine bloggers. In a recent “tips” blog, for instance, one helpful writer proffered these pearls of wisdom concerning California Zinfandel:

Feb 18, 2014 at 10:25 AM Permalink

Distinguished judges share thoughts on the 12 Zins of Lodi 2014

The 12 Zins of Lodi 2014 have been chosen by a jury of eight respected wine professionals, as a result of a formal tasting taking place in San Francisco this past February 5^th, organized by Charles Communications Associates for LoCA. These 12 Zinfandels were selected for being representative of the best of what the Lodi AVA has to offer today, in every price point; and samples will be sent out in care packages to media across the country.

The jurists made their selection after tasting a total of 57 Lodi grown Zinfandels in a double-blind format – meaning, they did not know the names of the brands (winery submissions were limited to two bottlings per winery). The envelope, please...

Feb 12, 2014 at 10:45 AM Permalink

The decidedly unknown (yet fantastic) Charbono grape

The near forgotten Charbono grape

In a recent polemic issued on his Web site, the widely read wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. commented on the disproportionate attention paid to "unknown" grapes by some of the new "absolutists":

“What we also have from this group of absolutists is a near-complete rejection of some of the finest grapes and the wines they produce. Instead they espouse, with enormous gusto and noise, grapes and wines that are virtually unknown. That’s their number one criteria – not how good it is, but how obscure it is”

Feb 4, 2014 at 11:22 AM Permalink

Let us count the ways we love Lodi’s Wine & Chocolate Weekend

Wine & Chocolate lovers at Klinker Brick Winery

LODI’S 17th ANNUAL WINE & CHOCOLATE WEEKEND
February 8 & 9, 2014 | 11am – 4pm

Jan 29, 2014 at 11:48 AM Permalink

Lodi Zinfandels from Kirschenmann Vineyard blow a few minds at 2014 ZAP

Four Seasons ballroom set up for ZAP/HVS FLIGHTS Experience

I’m going to grow my hair down to my feet so strange
'Til I look like a walking mountain range
Ride into Omaha on a horse
Out to the country club and golf course
Carrying the New York Times
Shoot a few holes, blow their minds…

- Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Free No. 10

Kirschenmann Vineyard – a prototypical, own-rooted east-side Lodi Zinfandel planting dating back to 1915 – made a memorable debut as a vineyard-designate bottling by five different prestige winemakers in the ballroom of the luxurious Four Seasons San Francisco last week Friday (January 24, 2014).

Jan 27, 2014 at 12:06 PM Permalink

Giant leap taken by Lodi wines at 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competiton

Peirano’s Lance Randolph: old school Lodi winegrower, suddenly “hip” among wine judges

The results of the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition held earlier this month are in, and Lodi American Viticultural Area grown wines have fared better than ever!

Jan 20, 2014 at 2:45 PM Permalink