The story continues: Lodi’s magical Bechthold Vineyard

Tegan Passlacqua (left) and Christina Turley of Turley Wine Cellars, harvesting Bechthold Cinsault

Part 2 – Why Lodi’s Bechthold Cinsault may be the “future” of wine

The well known phenomenon of “old vines” is, first of all, the fact that they tend to produce more intense wines because older vines naturally set lower crops.  Bechthold Vineyard, planted in 1886, is as old as it gets for Lodi – an American Viticultural Area replete with vines planted prior to 1960 (although the label designation “old vines” is unregulated, for our purposes what we call old vines would be vineyards with vines planted over 50 years ago — but there is more, much more, to the story...

Feb 22, 2012 at 9:02 AM Permalink

Lodi’s oldest existing vines: the magical Bechthold Vineyard

Wanda Woock Bechthold, Lodi's Renaissance woman

Part 1 – The rediscovery of a diamond in the Delta mists

Tegan Passalacqua, the vineyard manager of the esteemed Turley Wine Cellars, calls it “one of the last of the great dry farmed vineyards in Lodi.” Jillian Phoenix, the former winemaker of Bonny Doon Vineyard and current winemaker/co-owner of Phoenix Ranch in Napa Valley, calls it “a magical vineyard” planted to Cinsault grapes that are “by far the most interesting I have ever worked with in California.” Bonny Doon’s famed owner, Randall Grahm, calls the vineyard “the future of California wine… if people can ever become civilized.”

Feb 20, 2012 at 8:55 AM Permalink

Lodi’s memorable 2012 Wine & Chocolate Weekend

Good times during Wine & Chocolate Weekend at Klinker Brick Winery...

Nearly 5,000 lovers of love, life, chocolate and all the variations of lush, juicy Lodi wine cannot be wrong about Lodi’s Wine & Chocolate Weekend this past weekend, February 11-12, 2012.

Just four of the many vinous and chocolate infused highlights that were enjoyed...

Feb 13, 2012 at 8:49 AM Permalink

Oak Ridge is all about Lodi heart (and spice!)

The Oak Ridge Winery tasting room (housed in Tank No. 150)

If we told you that there is a successful 300,000 case Lodi winery owned by some of this American Viticultural Area’s oldest families, producing wines that are flying off store shelves across the U.S. as well as in European countries like Sweden, then you might say, “yep, Michael-David sure has grown.”

Feb 8, 2012 at 8:36 AM Permalink

What chocolates go with Lodi’s dry red wines?

Raw, pre-fermented cacao seeds and nibs

On the cusp of Lodi Wine Country’s upcoming Wine & Chocolate Weekend (this weekend, February 11-12, 2012), it behooves us to talk about a favorite subject:  the ideal wines for drinking with chocolates.

One the best and easiest wine matches in the world is sweet red wine – fortified sweet reds like Port and late harvest style Zinfandels – with chocolates.  The commonality of sweetness is why this pairing is a classic; but another reason is because, in their raw form, both red wines and chocolates have bitter elements at their core...

Feb 6, 2012 at 8:30 AM Permalink

Harney Lane’s historic Lizzy James has a sister!

Harney Lane's Kyle Lerner in Lizzy James Vineyard, Jan. 2012

Since its inception in 2008, Harney Lane Winery has shot up the proverbial charts of Lodi wine lovers with hit after hit of outstanding Lodi grown wines.

A flowery fresh Albariño, a first class barrel fermented style of Chardonnay, a velvet lined leather glove-y Tempranillo, and a cigar blast of a Petite Sirah have all found favor among Harney Lane aficionados; but it is Zinfandel – Lodi’s heritage grape – that still anchors the brand...

Feb 2, 2012 at 8:17 AM Permalink

Livin’ LoCA at ZAP

ZAP's spectactular 2012 Grand Tasting venue at The Concourse

The yearly Grand Tasting put on by the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (i.e. ZAP) in San Francisco turned 21 this past Saturday, January 28:  that is to say, after over two decades, it’s matured into one of the grandest, most bodacious yet, if you can believe it, most civilized wine events in the country.

A new venue at The Concourse certainly helped.  Close to 8,000 true-blue and purple teethed zin lovers strolled through the length of this south-of-Market building’s 125,000 square feet of spectacularly skylighted heights, rich wood and exposed brick walls (this 8^th & Brannan exhibition center was carved out of an old train station)...

Jan 30, 2012 at 7:54 AM Permalink

Mom always loved Sorelle’s Primitivo best

The Sorelle estate in January, with the historic Dodge House (built 1866)

Another one of the Lodi American Viticultural Area’s gold medal winners at the prestigious 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition was the 2009 Sorelle, Manna Ranch Reserve Lodi Primitivo ($27):  a round, fleshy, velvety, medium bodied red, inundated with vibrant, smoke tinged raspberry and black cherry aromas, unimpeded by moderate, pliant tannin...

Jan 26, 2012 at 7:52 AM Permalink

Michael~David’s Cabernet Sauvignon leads the way to Rapture

It seems like just yesterday that Michael~David Winery was one of those little Lodi wineries that could.  We still have lots of those kinds of producers, but the company driven by brothers Michael (CEO/owner) and David (President/owner) Phillips now do things on the scale of hundreds of thousands of cases – still peanuts compared to Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi (over 8 million cases), but dwarfing the 2,000 to 10,000 yearly cases by Lodi’s m2, Macchia, McCay, The Lucas, Bokisch and Harney Lane...

Jan 23, 2012 at 7:48 AM Permalink

Lodi’s Wine & Chocolate Weekend is the perfect tie that binds…

Friends, lovers, wine countrymen, lend us your ears, noses and tasting palates:

Lodi’s 15th annual Wine & Chocolate Weekend is upon us; taking place February 11-12, 2012 (11 AM-4 PM), when over 45 of our wineries roll out the Valentine’s-red carpets to their doors to show off their richest, juiciest wines with decadent chocolates and other treats, lots of live music, direct-from-barrel tastings, art exhibits, professional photo portraits, and more…

Jan 19, 2012 at 7:45 AM Permalink